“This is the beginning of a third Palestinian Intifada, which is erupting from the heart of Hebron and will spread to all of Palestine.”

One must be careful with this type of evidence; after all there is more than one reason for the Israeli political police, Shin Beth, to fake such a video. Moreover, considering the clothing of the participants it would be remarkably easy to falsify it even for the youngest agent, maybe as a graduation project. Yet, the video matches other developments on the ground and thus it is credible. It was posted on YouTube on December 15, 2012, by an alleged coalition of Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. These are the four main Palestinian political parties. Considering the disintegration of Palestine into Hamas-controlled Gaza and Fatah-controlled West Bank, this video is by itself groundbreaking news. However, it contains more than an image of unity. Its main message is “This is the beginning of a third Palestinian Intifada, which is erupting from the heart of Hebron and will spread to all of Palestine.” This will be achieved through the newly established “National Union Battalions.”

Let me translate this into simple terms. Following the acceptance of Palestine as an Observer State by the UN, the main Palestinian factions have united and declared Palestine’s Independence War on Israel. Is this credible? Will Palestine declare independence on May 14, 2013?

New Uprising

The video at the left was filmed the day before and shows violence in Hebron. Palestinian police officers are seen clashing with Hamas supporters during a rally in Hebron which marked the group’s 25th anniversary. The demonstrators marched from the city hall toward an Israeli checkpoint while the Palestinian officers attempted to disperse them. The demonstrators threw stones at them, and a number of them were detained. Due to resolution issues it is difficult to say for sure, but several Israeli soldiers may have participated in the event.

This may look like a contradiction to the claims made in the video above, but it is not so. It has been five years since Hamas supporters were allowed to gather in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority police was just making sure they would not reach the IDF checkpoint. Hence, the video supports the claim that a new coalition had been achieved.

Since November, there has been an increase in West Bank protests. According to the IDF, 130 attacks were launched from the West Bank in that month; most of them were defined as “difficult to contain.” AMAN, Israel’s military intelligence, reports a sharp increase in alerts suggesting attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Moreover, Palestinian Authority police stopped arresting Hamas operatives in the West Bank, and they are allowed to act freely. The Shin Beth released reports claiming that the West Bank is ripe for a third Intifada. Thus, at least the message in the video above is credible.

False Trigger

The IDF is fighting an outdated war. One of its generals, who refused to be identified by name, said on the same day to Yedioth Aharonot, Israel’s largest newspaper, “There are two scenarios that may indicate the future: The reopening of Hamas’ da’wah [charity] institutions in the West Bank and the complete suspension of arrests of Hamas operatives.” He added that the trigger for a third Intifada may end up being Jewish terror, such as “Price Tag” acts or clashes between Palestinians and settlers. One of the saddest things in this world is an old general trying to repeat a war from his youth; this unnamed general did just that.

The First Intifada was formally triggered on December 8, 1987. Two days before that, an Israeli salesman had been stabbed to death in Gaza; denizens suspected a retaliation from Israel. Then, an IDF tank transporter ran into a group of Palestinians from Jabalya Refugee Camp in Gaza. It killed four and injured seven, creating what looked like a retaliation. Subsequent violent protests became the Intifada. Yet, the ground had been burning for months; in despair, the IDF sent training units to the Occupied Territories since the beginning of that year. Years later, in September 2000, the Palestinian unrest was of a similar magnitude. The Second Intifada began on September 28, 2000, when Ariel Sharon, Likud candidate for Israeli Prime Minister, entered the Temple Mount accompanied by over 1,000 security guards. He said, “the Temple Mount is in our hands and will remain in our hands. It is the holiest site in Judaism and it is the right of every Jew to visit the Temple Mount.” By the end of 2012, the IDF is betting on a third variant of the theme. Yet, recent Palestinian actions show that a similar scenario is unlikely to happen.

Phase is Everything in Life

“Phase is everything in life,” a physicist friend told me once, and I found it impossible to refute his claim. Anybody thinking that the Palestinians will follow in 2013 the same patterns as they did in 1987 and 2000 is at least out of phase with our world and probably out of touch with reality. As analyzed in May 14, 2013, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has proved that he possesses a sharp historical perspective by concentrating his efforts on the recognition of Palestine as an Observer State on the anniversary of the historic 1947 vote on UN Resolution 181, better known as the UN Partition Plan of Palestine. He outsmarted Israel, which concentrated its efforts on the annulment of the resolution, instead of attempting to change its symbolic date. This was the act of a mature statesman who realized that the negotiations had entered a dead end alley. He is unlikely to surrender to settlers or IDF provocations and has a clear goal: complete independence. For historical reasons, his best choice would be May 14, 2013. Hence, the IDF’s published scenario is unlikely. The date the violent phase of the struggle will begin on is not related to Israeli actions.

Regardless of the name used by the media, the Third Intifada has not begun. What we are seeing is a Palestinian national, coordinated effort to achieve independence. The video on the top of this page announces the soon to begin Palestinian War of Independence. Are you ready, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz?

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I’d say that the Palestinian issue and even Gaza weighs upon the Muslim’s ability to ALLOW non-Muslims their spaces and respect the whole gamut of non-Muslim entertainments. Throughout this blog, there are instances of why Muslims should not be allowed to dominate the world. Muslims are incapable of governing diversity or understanding Voltarian freedoms such as accepting LGBT, gambling, alcohol, adult industry to list a few examples. Gaza (inequitable by location – no country can be in two parts in this manner – best that a land swop or ceding of the Gaza territory by Palestine occurs . . . ) and Palestine will NEVER be free until perhaps for a start the Islamist leaning government in malaysia ALLOWS all the above listed HUMAN RIGHTS the appropriate spaces and legal recognition and enforcement protections in a manner suitable and dignifying of the groups mentioned. This is why Palestine does not ‘deserve’ to exist, this is why Israel has a right to persecute Muslims, simply by the persecution applied by Muslims on non-Muslims elsewhere in the world .

There can be no protection or rights for Palestine so long as in places like Malaysia there are no rights granted on the above issues and more so when Palestine keeps firing rockets at Israel.

Even ‘Malay’ (half-Malay) exiles running away from Malaysia’s political fascism hate on LGBTs as well. RPK is a Malay writer who flip-flops but generally hates LGBT . . Impossible to teach some people(s) . . . so how can islam ‘civilise’ and abide by rights of access and expression on so many other ‘Haram Rights’ issues for non-Muslims?

ARTICLE 2

Yemen Times interview with Russian Ambassador Vladimir Trofimov: – “I don’t believe that Yemen will ever fall apart, and my government position is to support Yemen’s unity.” (Report).

“I will be happy to answer all your questions,” said the Russian Federation’s Ambassador to Yemen Vladimir Trofimov when we met him for an interview. He candidly opened his hands, “When it comes to Yemeni and Russian relations, we have no secrets.” Trofimov had been ambassador in Yemen for two and half years and is likely to continue for another one and half. Before that, he had been working for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 35 years, 22 of which were spent Arab countries.

He graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1974 and in 1986 graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has a Masters degree in History and speaks German, English, French and Arabic. He is married with one son who also works or the Foreign Service, specialized in Chinese affairs.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf interviewed Trofimov about Russia, Yemen and international affairs.

Every year, the Russian Federation provides Yemen with 80 Bachelor degree scholarships in many fields in addition to 45 scholarships for military degrees. A Yemeni-Russian Friendship Association recommends candidates for 20 of the general scholarships, while the remaining are decided on by the Ministry of Education.

Russia has investments in energy as it involved in the establishment of the Marib Power Plant, although it is keen on expanding to other fields when opportunity is available.

There are representatives of many large Russian industrial companies in Yemen and they are involved in energy and medical work, among other fields.

In the last few years, Russia canceled USD 5.5 billion of Yemen’s debts it the Russian Federation. And while Yemen still owes USD 1.2 billion, there is no pressure to return this amount as Yemen continues to pay an annual interest rate around no more than USD 20 million a year.

To Yemen, the Russian federation is not a donor country as such. However, it does help Yemen in facilitating agreements and supports Yemen’s development through expertise and discounted deals for equipment, arms, medicines and so forth.

Russians in Yemen

Formally, 500 Russians, mostly doctors and nurses, are registered with the embassy and have official state contracts. Yet the total Russian community in Yemen by far exceeds this number. Trofimov estimates that there are around 3,500 Russians living in Yemen, mainly in the medical field while others working in geological exploration among other disciplines.

Over the years, there have not been serious complaints raised by Russians living in Yemen and the general impression is that Russians feel safe across the country. They work in Sana’a, Aden, Taiz, Hadramout and Hodeidah. The embassy does not instruct its citizens where to go and where not to, as they have been evidently wise in their movement and work in Yemen.

“Even we at the embassy don’t believe that we need extra security measures despite the tragic incident of kidnapping and murdering foreigners in Sa’ada,” he said. “Thanks to the Yemeni government, security around the embassy is good enough.”

Security cooperation

Russia and Yemen signed a security cooperation agreement in 1998 and since then the two countries have exchanged expertise and Russia has supported Yemen with intelligence and military training, besides the 24 military scholarships every year.

During Saleh’s visit to Moscow this February, the two countries agreed on cooperation in combating terrorism and piracy. As a follow up, a specialized Russian delegation will be visiting Yemen in November this year to take the agreement further. There is talk of a joint Yemeni-Russian anti-terrorism and anti-piracy committee.

President Saleh also signed a deal to buy arms from Russia during his February visit. This is not the first time that Yemen buys weapons from Russia, who provides Yemen with discounted prices.

“We know Yemen is not a very rich country, so we do what we can to support Yemen’s sovernity and internal security, which is very important to us,” he said.

Yemen’s instability

“Our relations with Yemen are friendly and strong,” he said. “Our position is to firmly support Yemen’s unity and integrity.”

But Russia does not interfere in Yemen’s internal affairs like other countries do, Trofimov stressed. It trusts that the current president was elected by the people through a democratic process, and hence it is not fair to meddle into local affairs.

However, he believes that the instability in Yemen should not be over-dramatized. Another country with the amount of arms available in Yemen would have already been blown to pieces. Yemenis are therefore patient and calm people and are wise at handling their internal affairs.

The demonstrations in the south are economically based, and were triggered by some foreign and local political interests that do not represent all the Yemeni people.

“I don’t believe that Yemen will ever fall apart, and my government position is to support Yemen’s unity,” he said.

International affairs

Russia intends to hold a Middle East Peace Conference in the coming months. Its interest in the region’s stability is not new, as it has played a role as a mediator among many conflicting parties of the region.

“We don’t call it the Middle East,” he said. “We call it the Near East because it is near to us. And naturally we are concerned with its stability and want to ensure peace in the region. We have no problem talking to anyone in the process of making peace.”

Hamas has always been a controversial file between Russia and the United States among other western countries. Although there are currently around one and half million Russian Jews in Israel, Russia’s friendly position towards Hamas, Fatah and Iran has been made clear on more than one occasion.

“Mish’al had been invited to Russia twice before and we are inviting him again to visit some time soon,” he explained. “We must not ignore the fact that his government was a legitimate one elected by the Palestinian people. If we don’t consider Israel who keeps killing dozens of Palestinians every day a terrorist state, why should we consider Hamas a terrorist organization?”

“Our policy is to have fair relations with all sides, so that we can play a balanced role in the region in order to maintain peace,” he concluded.

Similarly, Russia’s relations with eastern countries are also maintained on friendly levels. Russia has annual USD 30 billion trade agreements with China and strong relations with India, notably commercial ones, as well as with other Asian countries.

Whether the new US administration means different US policy in the Middle East region is yet to be seen. However, Trofimov does find the Obama administration has a warmer attitude towards Russia compared to the Bush administration which was rather “confrontational.”…

The decapitated bodies of a judge, his wife and son were found at their home in one of the biggest Ukrainian cities of Kharkov on Saturday, police said. The killers also targeted the son’s partner, her body being mutilated in the same way.

­Victims of the graphic murder were discovered at the apartment of Vladimir Trofimov, 58, a judge of the city district court.

“The murder took place in the morning, four bodies are decapitated,” police said.

“We do not exclude Trofimov’s professional activity as a motive which led to the crime. But we are also looking into other possible reasons,” Kharkhov District police chief, Viktor Kozitsky remarked.

Local media report that police registered an emergency call at around 13:00 pm (11:00 GMT). The caller told them that he had found mutilated bodies of his four relatives including Trofimov himself, his wife, 59, their son in his 30s and the son’s girlfriend, 29. The murder occurred on the day that Ukrainian court workers celebrate their professional holiday. Kharkov is Ukraine’s second-largest city located in the country’s east. It was one of four Ukrainian cities to host the UEFA’s major football tournament Euro 2012.

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Silenced by the Arabs IN Russia (beheading seems to indicate)? Or silenced by the Russians themselves (in Arab style so that a war can be declared by Russia against Arabs . . . maybe high time so long as Islamists cannot abide by protection and granting of spaces and freedoms for non-Muslim entertainments) for being a double agent for Arabs in Yemen? Scary to get involved with these sorts . . . Gulag! Or conversion! Bad choices all, though extreme-Capitalism is no better . . .

Yemeni military court sentenced 93 members of the Republican Guard to prison terms from three to seven years for an attempt to break into the Defense Ministry building in August.

The elite Republican Guard is led by Brigadier General Ahmed Saleh, son of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh who resigned from power in February after more than a year of protests, in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

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Postulation : Looks like North Korea informing/selling info with that new satellite? Satellites could be BRAIN SCANNERS . . . Memories do not fade Russia, but Kim should know that blackmailing of Russia for WW2 incursions quietly in the background, will be more useful to Kim in the long run than exposing Russia to Islamists directly. As for the necessity due to Russian treachery or the regain national pride of WW2 atrocities, that could wait until the Islamists have pledged to protect and ensure non-Muslim lifestyles.

There is a ‘morality’ ‘key’ on satellite technology that can only be operated by certain types of Egregore/Subconsciousneses born from certain types of persons or those of sufficient strength among a nation’s citizentry. Should the Egregore or or Subconsciousneses assent to operate the Satellite via contract with the owner, the ALIENS waiting outside the Earth’s orbit are ready to communicate with the owner of the satellite via the subconscious or egregore.

The above series of events INCLUDING the mass shooting of 26+1 in Newport (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100321171), and Hillary’s ‘timely’ (if not contrived) illness and concussion circa 16th December 2012 could be a sort of warning or brain transplant, or soul exchange occuring.

As for Kim, the isolation was so severe that if the ALIEN theory is true, then NK communications would be as important to describe the nature of humanity than be suppressed as in the current form. ALIENS may not fully understand human emotions and societies and having only met a handful of satellites, might be misled to think every other human was not good or needed to be suppressed. NK’s satellite was piloted by the ‘14th Dec 2012 Egregore‘ and reached space where ALIENS learnt the nature of isolation and reputational sabotage by human nation against human nation.

The other method of piercing the atmosphere is via psychic broadcasting, where a psychic broadcasts upwards into the atmosphere (this can be intercepted or conducted away) but such signals are of interest to ALIENS being biological in nature, and are viewed equally as valid expressions of humanity as the satellite. ALIENS as of now may be on a fact collecting mission, and having discovered the abuses of certain human segments of society are on a ‘cleanup’ mission. Internet and mobile phone incidentally have been entirely infiltrated and are being loaded by aliens who study the emotions, if not neurotech scientists . . . the psychoatric establishment also attempts to shut off communications by heavily drugging psychics able to pierce the atmosphere, this is effetive partially when localized and with opponent psychics focusing against.

Any refutes and discussions to/against the (most admitedly viewed as outlandish) above post is welcome.

Nicky was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when she was 29
The condition makes her muscles tighten, leaving her unable to move
Nicky now poses as a frozen Marilyn Monroe for two hours at a time to raise money for charity

A Parkinson’s sufferer whose muscles stiffen as a result of the disease has turned her condition into an art-form – by becoming a human statue.

Mother-of-four Nicky Pywell was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when she was just 29 forcing her to give up her career as a gardener.

The neurological condition means that without medication Nicky’s muscles and joints contract and tighten – and she is unable to move.

Nicky during her Marilyn Monroe performance

Good cause: Nicky decided to harness her muscle rigidity for charity by posing as a living statue for money

Undeterred, courageous Nicky decided not to let the debilitating disease get in her way and used her newly found talent to pose as a living statue.

She now raises money for charity by doing a Marilyn Monroe impersonation in her home town of Coalville, Leicester, for two hours at a time.

The street-artist now makes up to £400-a-time for Parkinson’s UK with her popular performances.

The 35-year-old said: ‘I become a living statue for two-and-a-half hours. I get stiff, all my muscles get rigid and I’m unable to move if I don’t have my medication.

Toddler enjoys first family Christmas at home after having ELEVEN tumours removed from all over her body
One loving family and a lethal divide: Sam, 25, and dying of a brain tumour insists faith healing can cure him. His cancer-consultant father is desperate for him to trust doctors

‘It was the idea of being stiff that led to being a statue. I do take little breaks but every time I am out on the platform I don’t move.

‘I raised about £390 the first time. That was taken from sponsorships beforehand as well as people giving me some on the day.

‘I gave an envelope to everyone I met that week telling them about myself and what I was doing.

‘I love Marilyn Monroe – she was a good actress and beautiful and glamorous. I find it really fun, I enjoy it and people say I look like her.’

Ms Pywell first sought her GP’s advice after she thought she had pulled a muscle while using a hedge trimmer nine years ago.
Nicky used to be a gardener but had to give up her job when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s

Nicky used to be a gardener but had to give up her job when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s

As time went on her left arm began to shake and drag but it took another three years and four neurologists to diagnose Nicky because doctors thought she was too young to suffer from Parkinson’s.

She added: ‘I was working as a self taught and self-employed gardener which I loved.

‘This particular day I was using a hedge trimmer and I thought I had just pulled a muscle. My left arm felt stiff.

‘I went to a walk in clinic and they gave me anti-inflammatory medicine, but it didn’t go away.

‘Then my left arm began to shake, and my left leg began to drag so much that it affected my driving.

‘Over the next three years I saw three or four different neurologists. None of them thought it could be Parkinson’s because I was so young.

‘Eventually my new GP sent me to a different neurologist at Leicester General Hospital. They admitted me to the ward, and Parkinson’s was finally diagnosed.

‘The medication they put me on worked very quickly and I was able to walk out of hospital.

‘I felt that things were finally getting under control, with the help of my Parkinson’s nurse.

‘Giving up my gardening career was one of the hardest things for me. Now, I’m taking each day as it comes.

‘People aren’t aware that I’ve got it unless I tell them and you get funny looks from people who make assumptions.

‘It’s much more likely that people think you’re drunk or taking drugs. For me to accept I’ve got Parkinson’s it was easier for me if I told the world rather than tell people one by one. It’s something I’ve learned to live with and not to be ashamed of.’

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Actually the psychic or astral imprinting issue is a viable problem to be considered with people with illnesses displaying themselves as role models. The best would be for warning to accompany with the ‘statue busker’ that has an illness (which spoils the work), or to have people in perfect health AND a family history free of disease that do not need warnings. That way, HEALTHINESS can be psychically imprinted upon the passers by rather than ‘wiping off’ of illness (if even intended or possible being in such a poor state of health) on the casual onlooker. Subconsciously those less wary or unaware may end up psychically ‘imitating’ Parkinsons disease while out of ignorance due to attraction for Marilyn Monroe and hence there must be some forethought and caution on the part of the audience as well even as the worker puts themselves out on a limb as well.

Some of the people who are knowledgeable about this may not practice or are coordinated well in actual practice, conversely those who practice well (a large majority I would say), do not know how to communicate this being unschooled in occult language. Then there are those fractured by the psychiatric establishment for being too strong or too aware, but thats another neurotech tagged article on this blog for those who care to browse . . .

President Barack Obama wipes a tear as he speaks about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, …An emotional President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to “take meaningful action, regardless of the politics,” to prevent future tragedies like the shooting massacre Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

“Our hearts are broken today,” Obama said in a brief statement at the White House briefing room, frequently pausing to wipe tears from his eyes. “The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them: birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.”

Obama expressed sorrow for the victims’ loved ones and sympathy for the parents of the children who survived but who know that “their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early.”

“As a country we have been through this too many times,” Obama said, listing a series of mass shootings over the past few years in places like Aurora, Colo.

“These neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics,” he stressed.

Earlier, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that “today’s not the day” to talk about possible new gun control steps meant to prevent such tragedies in the future.

Obama ordered flags over government facilities to be flown at half-staff until sunset on Dec. 18. Shortly after he spoke, Connecticut State Police said the death toll included 20 children, six adults and the shooter.

Obama learned of the rampage at 10:30 a.m. from Homeland Security adviser John Brennan. He later discussed it by telephone with FBI Director Robert Mueller and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy.

Obama’s reference to acting “regardless of the politics” seemed likely to be a reference to deep opposition in Congress to new gun control legislation.

“Today’s not … a day to engage in the usual Washington policy debates,” Carney told reporters. “That day will come, but today’s not that day.” Carney said renewing a federal assault weapons ban “does remain a commitment” of the president. The ban expired in 2004, and Obama has taken no serious steps to renew it on Capitol Hill.

Carney declined to answer repeated questions on when would be an appropriate time for lawmakers in Washington to discuss possible actions to prevent future tragedies. “Our minds and our focus need to be on what’s happening there and providing assistance where we can to those who need it,” he said, urging “enormous sympathy for the families that are affected.”

One reporter pointed to Obama’s remarks in July just days after a shooting spree that left 12 dead and about 60 injured at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

“I hope that over the next several days, next several weeks and next several months, we all reflect on how we can do something about some of the senseless violence that ends up marring this country,” Obama said at the time.

Obama has made similar comments before, including at a January 2011 memorial for the victims of a mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., in which then-Rep. Gabby Giffords was grievously wounded.

“We have to examine all the facts behind this tragedy. We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence. We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of such violence in the future,” Obama said. “But what we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other. That we cannot do.”

Republican House Speaker John Boehner likewise ordered the Stars and Stripes lowered over the Capitol.

“The horror of this day seems so unbearable, but we will lock arms and unite as citizens, for that is how Americans rise above unspeakable evil,” Boehner said in a written statement. “Let us all come together in God’s grace to pray for the families of the victims, that they may find some comfort and peace amid such suffering.

“Let us give thanks for all those who helped get people to safety, and take heart from their example. The House of Representatives—like every American—stands ready to assist the people of Newtown, Connecticut,” Boehner said.

A country where every geezer or child is armed to the teeth is impossible to invade. Think Afghanistan where the kids casually carry around missile launchers or where an assault rifle is giiven as a coming of manhood gift. The above pic is of Russian origin. Does USA understand that people kill people and not guns kill people? Screening for psychos (psychiatrists kill with medications ALL THE TIME, so ban psychiatric meds . . . ) is the main issue.

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Absolute power absolutely corrupts.

Suggest that ALL owners of PRIVATE temples and churches be implanted with neurotech. Also all neurosurgeons who are able to implant neurotech and sellers of neurotech be implanted with neurotech as well. ALL private hospital committee chairs (or anyone with the authority to authorize bonuses), and ALL public listed company chairs serving more than 2 terms also required to be implanted with neurotech. ALL psychiatrists with the authority to implant neurotech be implanted with neurotech so that audits of all individuals possibly overseen by WHO can be done to see that abuse of political opponents and activists be prevented. Coroners who might have access to the dead and ‘used’ neurotech should also be implanted as well. The security people working at cushy jobs in nuke or dangerous weapon stockpiles also should be considered, to prevent bribery by unfriendly forces.

ALL neurotech implants should be registered with WHO and INTERPOL and deactivatable from WHO and INTERPOL to prevent abuse. ALL cabinet ministers related to security or neurotech based surveillance should be implanted with neurotech as well. ALL top police persons with access to neurotech devices be implanted with neurotech so that the NEUTRAL MEMBERS of public (i.e. no relatives, no neighbours, no people from the same establishment or work place) can do audits.

All neurotech implants NOT registered will be considered illegal. This way even banks and major companies leaking secrets and funds to unfriendly (not necessarily Muslet companies, but given the ‘War on terror’ the most infiltrations should likely be Muslet friendly ‘Whites’ of multifaith households or multifaith ‘toting’, yet Islamist leaning countries like Malaysia or some parts of Europe).

ARTICLE 5

New Russian motto: Legalize prostitution – collect taxes – 07.12.2012

The situation on the Russian market of sex services may soon dramatically change. Prostitutes will not be cheaper, and the moral climate in the society will not get better. Instead of vulnerability before the officials and clients, prostitutes would have “safety certificates” and those enjoying their bodies would have confidence that they are not dealing with a hotbed of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. A conference to discuss the initiative on the development of a law on legalization of prostitution was held in Moscow under the motto “legalize prostitution – collect taxes”. The idea was supported by a State Duma deputy from the party “United Russia” Joseph Kobzon.

The initiative on legalization of prostitution and the conference was originated by the fund “Morality Police.” The document of the organization, called a draft federal law “On state regulation and control of sexual services” suggested calling prostitutes “individual entrepreneurs engaged in providing sexual services,” and their clients – “consumers of sexual services.” The authors of the bill proposed to consider underground prostitution only sexual activities meant to obtain “income in the form of money or other material benefits.” The bill addresses the relationship between “entrepreneurs” and “consumers” as well as tax and other government agencies.

Duma deputy Joseph Kobzon supported the idea of ??the bill with reservations. He noted that the bill was just an excuse to start a great debate, perhaps even a referendum. “As soon as the State Duma starts drafting a law on prostitution, it will immediately raise the question of the need of its approval in the second reading by the government and presidential administration. Once the government feels that this law has a financial component, […] that there will be a need to allocate money from the budget to combat prostitution, it will be voted down,” said Kobzon. According to him, the money will be needed first of all for the maintenance of the new police unit – morality police.

Speaking after Kobzon, spokeswoman of the informal union of sex workers “Silver Rose” Oksana Yartseva noted that taxes that are rampant in prostitution “settle in the pockets of corruption.”

De facto prostitution flourishes in Russia, and the existing laws are obsolete. In the current Russian legislation Article 6.11 in the Code of Administrative Offences provides for a fine for prostitution between 1,500 and 2,000 rubles. There are two articles of the Criminal Code against pimps and keepers of brothels. They are “Involvement in prostitution” (up to a maximum of eight years in prison) and “Organization of prostitution” (ten years).

The conference overlooked the fact that talking about prostitutes we normally think of women, and thinking of customers we think of men only, which is not quite true. Everyone knows about the existence of male prostitution – and not just for the gay.

Sociologist Olga Kryshtanovskaya was among the most prominent opponents of legalization of prostitution at the conference. She did not like the fact that “it can be done by any girl who graduated from high school.” The opponents of this bill have two main arguments. The law on the legalization of prostitution is contrary to the traditional moral values ??and would lead to a greater spread of this vicious phenomenon. Ms. Kryshtanovskaya who specializes in the study of elites also mentioned sex tourism: “Would we face a huge influx of migrant sex tourists who will be coming along with their male migrant workers? How will it impact our demographic situation?”

In contrast to the arguments of morality and increasing number of prostitutes, the rhetorical question of Olga Kryshtanovskaya is very pertinent. The first oldest profession safely existed from time immemorial and, apparently, in one form or another will exist as long as the human race exists. As for Christianity, according to Jesus, individual prostitutes have a chance to enter the kingdom of heaven before priests and the elders. The spread of prostitution, as noted by Joseph Kobzon, is affected by social problems.

As long as Russia stays a poor country, the officials should think hard before legalizing prostitution. Otherwise, Russia can turn into semblance of Thailand that has become the center of world sex tourism. Russia should also look at the experience of Germany. Prostitution in Germany is legal in Protestant lands and prohibited in Catholic Bavaria. However, the ban does not lead to the destruction of brothels but, rather, drives them underground.

Igor Bukker

Pravda.Ru

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Igor? We all know that the regime establishment, chauvinists and militant feminists thrive off the sexual frustration of either gender. Prostitution if legalized will remove this element of psychic abuse from society and even prevent abuse especially FROM the hetero religious establishment fundos. The officials have been thinking ‘hard’, but Igor has been thinking ‘soft’. If Russia turns into the semblance of Thailand, one can only see the downfall of Capitalism as Socialism takes control when business goes to Russia. The economic vibrancy (we all know that places where the most entertainment occur is also where the biggest deals get done) of a Thailand-like Russia would dominate the world. Why would Igor not want that? Fifth columnist fronting for Capitalism? Igor is an ‘Igor’ for the Frankenstein of USA’s extreme-Capitalists (much like Islamists) . . .

European kindergartens and schools may ban children’s books and fairy tales that depict the traditional family. This is a request of the European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights. According to the committee, fairy tales should talk about sexual diversity. Norwegian experts believe that children benefit from watching porn.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality prepared a report that calls for a ban of all books that show the traditional family where the father is the breadwinner and the mother takes care of the children in schools and day care centers of Europe. According to the authors, these books are bad for the future life of children, especially girls, and promote wrong behavioral patterns. In the future, it may prevent them from building a career.

Feminists are concerned that children from an early age are constantly faced with “negative gender stereotypes” in television shows and commercials. The word “negative” in the report is synonymous with the word “traditional”. Over time, the ban would be extended to television and advertising. So far it was decided to start with books.

The authors of the report strongly recommend urgent legislative measures in the field of children’s literature. In particular, they suggest introducing a policy of “equality of all social sectors.” An example of alternative children’s literature is a book “King and King” with kissing men on the cover. According to the report, this would help children to learn about the “true sexual diversity of society.”

In fact, such measures have already been taken in some countries, particularly in Scandinavian ones that consider themselves the vanguard of Western democracy. “Pravda.Ru” once reported about a Swedish toy manufacturer that issued a catalog before Christmas where girls were pictured shooting imaginary enemies with laser guns, and boys were depicted playing with dolls.

This was a requirement of the Swedish advertising regulator who accused the toy manufacturer of sexism and imposition of negative gender stereotypes. Norwegian kindergartens in 2010 introduced a program of compulsory sex education focusing on sexual minorities.

The report of the European Parliament also insisted that “homosexuality should be taught in kindergarten as a form of experience and knowledge.” According to them, this will expand the concept of “gender identity” for children. “Sexual diversity should be obvious to children. Children need to know that this is normal when your parents are gay or lesbian.”

For some reason, not all parents are willing to believe that this is “normal.” In Norway Muslim community strongly opposed such education in kindergartens. They threatened to withdraw their children from such institutions or create an alternative.

For the “dark” parents who are not aware of the latest trends in sex education in modern society, Norway’s largest newspaper VG Nett recently published an opinion of psychologists and sex therapists who said that it was beneficial for children to watch porn on the internet.

“Parents should not be afraid of their children’s sexuality. Conversely, from a health perspective it is beneficial to watch porn at a time when parents and children talk openly about these issues,” said psychologist and sex researcher Andres Lindskog.

He was commenting on a statement recently issued by an expert from the organization Save the Children, who expressed concern about the fact that increasingly more children and teenagers were addicted to watching pornographic sites on the Internet.

Anders Lindskog is convinced that there is no addiction or harm from this. “It’s important for parents to understand that children are born with sexuality and follow their biology. Children have the same feelings as adults,” said the expert.

After that, should we be surprised that the number of cases of pedophilia is growing in Norway? They mostly occur within the family. A few days ago, newspapers wrote about another such case. A couple, a husband and wife, subjected their three children under 10 years of age to violence and sexual perversions for years.

The children confirmed the violence to the police. But that does not mean that the punishment will be sufficiently severe. In Norway, pedophilia is considered a disease and is listed in the Medical Register. For this reason, pedophiles are given short sentences – from several months to several years. In some cases punishment could be limited to penalty only. In the end, parents can always say that they practiced “diversity of sexual relations.”

Svetlana Smetanina

Pravda.Ru

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Since brain scanning neurotech use is rampant, the issue of abuse and consent as well as TRUE (non-contrived) experimentation among children and conscientious NON-ABUSIVE AND NON-PREDATORY AND NON-EXPLOITATIVE adults that are not a form of uncontrolled incest, should be considered as part of the law making process. There should be no ‘top-secret’ preventions in the expositions of technology and application to the populace any more to prevent abuse and Orwellian dictatorships, hidden or not.

As for feminists or chauvinists, these groups should be allowed to exist as well and educate in the form they would prefer (i.e. disallowing fairytales) BUT may only ‘recruit or induct’ from children who have been determined to have NATURAL PROPENSITY OR GRAVITATION BY A NEUTRAL PANEL and consensually chose the subculture . . . *NOT* even children of arbitrarily feminists or chauvinists by nature should be forced into this sub-culture.

That would mean that Feminists and Chauvinists would continue to exist as a social group, but only be based around affirmation of the type of person, which a child MUST independently decide, and choose from A LIST OF ALL VARIANTS OF SUBCULTURES which must be part of early education. Meanwhile parents back home must be taught to not *forcibly inculpate* ANY values so that the child may grow up independently to decide what they want, NOT what the parents want. Invariably, the traditional family would doubtless survive as well – PROVIDED the issue of land and wealth distribution is resolved and do not from lack of distribution cause poverty to influence the child’s decision and choice as well.

Warren Buffett, the investor famous for betting on aging industries like railroads and insurance, is now trying to pull off something other billionaires have tried and failed to do: save the newspaper business.

His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has spent more than $342 million on 80 newspapers — including its hometown paper, the Omaha World-Herald — and used them to build a new business unit. And Buffett isn’t done. Though the division announced plans to close an underperforming newspaper in Virginia last month, he’s said that more acquisitions may be in store.

Terry Kroeger, the newly installed chief of Buffett’s newspaper empire, runs the operation from a 15th-floor office overlooking the expanse of wide streets that make up Omaha, Neb. The goal, Kroeger says, is to reintroduce newspapers to what they do best: delivering urgent, local information that readers can’t get elsewhere — and coaxing people into paying for it. He’s also creating offshoot websites with corporate sponsors and branching out into Internet video.

“We’ve got to evolve with what people are looking for, and I think our industry has done kind of a crappy job with that,” Kroeger, 50, said in an interview.

Kroeger, who started working at the World-Herald 27 years ago, once kept a pair of sneakers under his desk to mow the lawn whenever the grass around the office building got unsightly. Just like in those early days, it’s essential to charge readers for the reporting that journalists provide, he said. The World- Herald erected a so-called pay wall last year, and Kroeger aims to roll out the same approach across his other newspapers.

“You can’t spend millions of dollars assembling something and then give it away,” he said, endorsing a strategy adopted by the New York Times, News Corp.’s Wall Street Journal and most of Gannett Co.’s papers.

The World-Herald, Buffett’s flagship paper, will see its revenue decline this year as circulation shrinks, Kroeger said. It generates about $100 million annually and remains profitable, said Kroeger, who declined to elaborate on its finances.

Buffett’s acquisition of 63 newspapers from Media General earlier this year accounts for most of the newspaper unit. Based on Media General statements, those newspapers generated $299.6 million last year, a 50 percent decline from 2006.

Kroeger said that Buffett’s total newspaper division is in the black and should remain so, despite the shrinking revenue.

“We’re profitable this year,” he said. “I have a high degree of confidence we will remain profitable next year as well. We’re very high on the industry.”

The paywall has helped support revenue, though the program is still in the early stages, he said. The World-Herald’s circulation, meanwhile, has continued to shrink. It fell 3.2 percent in weekday readership to 130,932 from a year earlier, according to the most recent data from the Alliance for Audited Media. The Sunday edition dropped 2.9 percent to 165,397.

Even if the paywall draws help boost subscriptions, the move is more of a palliative than a cure, Kroeger said.

“We have to get into new businesses,” he said.

One such venture, already under way, aggregates health-care articles from the World-Herald and other Berkshire-owned Nebraska newspapers into a website sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. The site, which is freely available to readers, has advertising in addition to the sponsorship.

The risk is that sponsorships jeopardize a newspaper’s objectivity, especially when it comes to medical information, said Todd Gitlin, a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Kroeger said the arrangement with Blue Cross doesn’t affect the content.

The broader question is whether newspapers can evolve quickly enough to revive a decaying business. They’re confronting shrinking demand for print advertising, declining circulation, and encroachment from Internet companies such as Google and Facebook. The industry’s ad dollars dropped 6.6 percent in the first six months of 2012 from a year earlier, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

While community papers have an edge over publications in crowded media markets, no one has found a way out of the slump, said Ken Doctor, a media analyst with Outsell in Burlingame, Calif.

“There’s no silver bullet,” he said. Newspapers in many places had enjoyed a near-monopoly pricing on print advertising, Doctor said. “That’s not coming back — for anybody.”

Kroeger said last month the company will shutter the Virginia-based Manassas News & Messenger, one of Buffett’s most recent acquisitions, and cut 105 jobs in the process. The newspaper faced too much direct competition from other papers in the area, which includes Washington, and was continuing to lose money, Kroeger said in the World-Herald.

“We didn’t see any way to really turn it back into a profitable enterprise, reliably, so what made the most sense was to just cease publication,” he said.

Other billionaires have tried and failed to turn around the newspaper business. Tribune Co., the owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, filed for bankruptcy in 2008, one year after a buyout led by real-estate magnate Sam Zell.

Buffett’s gamble is less ambitious. His recent spending spree on newspapers amounted to less than two-tenths of 1 percent of Berkshire’s total market value.

He also may have more success than others, said Don Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Co. Part of Berkshire’s strategy is focusing on smaller market papers that don’t have to compete with other media, Graham said.

“When you get larger, you get challenged by more forms of media competition for advertising delivery,” he said last week at an investor conference. “Anybody who really focuses on the newspaper business should be studying one company this year: Berkshire Hathaway.”

At Buffett’s Omaha paper, Kroeger is investing in high- definition video equipment, with an eye toward doing an online sports show featuring its reporters. That’s something major market newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have tried. Unlike those national publications, though, Buffett’s newspapers embrace a simple tenet: All news is local.

“The community aspect of what we do is so important,” Kroeger said. “Obituaries, for example, are huge. You want to find out how big a deal that is? Misspell somebody’s name in an obituary — once. You’ll never do it again. These things matter to people.”

Kroeger’s first job at the paper was as an assistant purchasing agent. He negotiated for newsprint costs from vendors and made sure the company’s trucks had enough gas to make their deliveries every day.

“I was pretty low on the food chain,” he said. “It’s where I learned about the nuts and bolts of the business.”

Buffett is a longtime investor in newspapers, though never at this scale in the past. Buffett’s interest in the industry had been mostly limited to a stake in the Washington Post and the 1977 purchase of the Buffalo News, which is run separately from Kroeger’s operations. Its publisher, Stan Lipsey, reports directly to Buffett. Berkshire also owns a stake in Gannett, the publisher of USA Today.

Buffett is the second-richest American, after Microsoft’s Bill Gates, with an estimated worth of $46.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s made him one of the highest-profile backers of print journalism.

“I’ve loved newspapers all my life — and always will,” Buffett wrote in a letter to employees of his newspapers earlier this year, before going on to say that he will probably buy more papers over the next few years. Buffett’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Kroeger declined to discuss the company’s future takeover targets. Other newspaper businesses focused on smaller markets include McClatchy Co., a publisher of 30 daily newspapers such as the Sacramento Bee, and E.W. Scripps Co., which operates 15 newspapers from Cincinnati. Tribune Co.’s newspapers also will be put up for sale as the company emerges from bankruptcy later this month, people familiar with the matter said this week.

Buffett, born in Omaha, has been a loyal subscriber to the World-Herald for most of his adult life and understands the challenges the paper faces, Kroeger said.

“He knows it’s not going to be easy turning things around,” Kroeger said. “He gets what we do here and he’s been incredibly helpful, generous with his time, offering advice when he can.”

Still, Buffett doesn’t influence news coverage, said Mike Reilly, the World-Herald’s executive editor. And there’s been no shift in how the paper covers him, he said. For years, the paper has run a weekly column on the billionaire called “Warren Watch,” something that continues under Buffett’s ownership.

“There hasn’t been any change in how I run the newsroom,” Reilly said. “We used to cover the heck out of him and we still cover the heck out of him.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Starting from articles on the net, the number of hits should decide WHICH articles get published on solid paper. The hits online determine how much a person gets paid for an article (this should be capped at a limit of minimum wage per SERIOUS article or if the – we can’t have people getting millions at the company’s expense for A SINGLE ARTICLE), THEN the article gets published BECAUSE of many hits. This way articles that people do not read are left out, and the 99% decide what gets published instead of the editors who are doubtless controlled by the political regime of the day. For non-serious articles or trivia like music launches, celebs or fashion the rate should be at 5% of minimum wage per article, as we do know that a single journalist can churn out dozens a week and these automatically get ‘hits’ because of the shallow masses or tired minds looking for something simple. Various articles of similar types could appear all at once, so the top 20 top hits of the same article perhaps could be edited AND the ‘minimum wage purse’ be shared among journalists who independently found the article on their own (reposters not counted). As for comments, the ‘average annual wage’ purse could be shared for the top 10% of comments so that feedback is also included. Newspapers should not pontificate but also include comments as well.

ARTICLE 8

Susan Rice withdraws from running for secretary of state – live coverage – guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 December 2012 23.11 GMT

Susan Rice

UN ambassador tells Obama ‘I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly’

As news of Rice’s withdrawal broke, the president entered a meeting with House Speaker John Boehner on how the two sides might come to a fiscal cliff compromise.

If the president caved on Rice, does that mean he’s in a cave-y mood generally?

The deputy chief of staff for the speaker’s office, David Schnittger, says the meeting has concluded, but he isn’t saying what happened.

The @whitehouse #fiscalcliff meeting between @speakerboehner and President Obama has concluded.
— David Schnittger (@OhSchnitt) December 13, 2012

11.11pm GMT

Slate’s Dave Weigel calls it. That guy’s good.

I just hope McCain makes a rare Sunday show appearance to discuss this news.
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) December 13, 2012

Potential defense secretary Chuck Hagel, a former colleague of John Kerry’s on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and like Kerry a Vietnam vet, is not regarded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to be an especially faithful friend to Israel, Eli Lake reports in the Daily Beast (Aipac never takes formal positions on nominees):

A senior pro-Israel advocate in Washington told The Daily Beast on Thursday, “The pro-Israel community will view the nomination of Senator Chuck Hagel in an extremely negative light. His record is unique in its animus towards Israel.”

Josh Block, a former spokesman for AIPAC and the CEO and president of the Israel Project, told The Daily Beast, “While in the Senate, Hagel voted against designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, refused to call on the E.U. to designate Hezbollah a terrorist group, and consistently voted against sanctions on Iran for their illicit pursuit of nuclear weapons capability. It is a matter of fact that his record on these issues puts him well outside the mainstream Democratic and Republican consensus.”

11.02pm GMT
Kerry: ‘we should all be grateful’ for Rice’s service

Ewen MacAskill sends John Kerry’s statement on the withdrawal of Susan Rice:

I’ve known and worked closely with Susan Rice not just at the UN, but in my own campaign for President. I’ve defended her publicly and wouldn’t hesitate to do so again because I know her character and I know her commitment. She’s an extraordinarily capable and dedicated public servant. Today’s announcement doesn’t change any of that. We should all be grateful that she will continue to serve and contribute at the highest level. As someone who has weathered my share of political attacks and understands on a personal level just how difficult politics can be, I’ve felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks, but I also know that she will continue to serve with great passion and distinction.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 to discuss a disabilities treaty. Kerry did not want to respond to questions from reporters about recent talk that Kerry is a top candidate to replace Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 to discuss a disabilities treaty.
10.57pm GMT

Let’s hope Kerry recovers from his conflicted feelings about Rice’s political troubles in time to put a cheerful face on it should he be nominated to take the job that was supposed to be hers.

“I’ve felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks.” — John Kerry on Susan Rice. — The Fix (@TheFix) December 13, 2012

Heh.

If Kerry as Sec’y of State is half as effective against Iran’s mullahs as he was against Susan Rice, I’m for him — Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) December 13, 2012 10.43pm GMT

Updated at 10.47pm GMT

Who, apart from Sen. John McCain, is most pleased by today’s news? There’s reason to speculate that outgoing Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown might not be taking it so badly.

Brown is expected to be a front-runner to fill Kerry’s senate seat if Kerry gets the state nod. Here’s ABC’s Elizabeth Hartfield:

…with Rice out of the running, Kerry is “all but certain” to get the nomination, according to ABC’s Jake Tapper. That means a vacant seat and a special election, which could benefit out-going Sen. Scott Brown, who lost his bid for reelection to Elizabeth Warren in November. […] Brown’s victory in a special election would not be a sure thing. Although he leaves office with high approval ratings- exit polls from the 2012 election showed him with a favor-ability rating of 60 percent- but Massachusetts is a solidly Democratic state, and there are many Democrats in elected office in the state who could challenge Brown. 10.37pm GMT

The uproar over Rice’s statements on Benghazi was fueled by a desperate attempt to score points during the presidential campaign, as Tom Ricks so bluntly explained on Fox News. Then Obama was reelected and the continued campaign against Rice began to look especially unhinged.

Consider Iowa Rep. Steve King, who today said the Benghazi scandal is 10 times bigger than the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals combined, the Washington Times reported (h/t: @batterdippin):

“(Watergate) was a break-in that Nixon had no knowledge of at the time. It became about the cover-up,” King said. “Iran-Contra, again, as far as the real depths of what went wrong and who violated what laws, we didn’t really get that identified in there. … This is a case where we had an ambassador who was assassinated. He and the others were victims of a plot and a plan. We were willfully and intentionally misinformed by the White House. You know, if Richard Nixon tried to cover up Watergate, that’s an easy case to make that the Obama administration didn’t want us to know what has gone on. We still don’t know.”

This kind of circus wackiness, among other factors, made the case against Rice look weak. It looked like something a newly empowered president could bulldoze through. In late November, John Heilemann in New York Magazine went so far as to list five reasons why a Rice confirmation was a done deal:

As a rule, your columnist avoids predictions, but in the spirit of holiday indulgence, I will make an exception here: Not only will Obama appoint Rice to succeed Clinton but she will be confirmed.

Here’s Heilemann’s fourth reason:

4. Because McCain is being a jackass—and Obama is sick of it. Arguably more than any other national figure, the senior senator from Arizona is driven in every aspect of his public behavior by personal pique. In the wake of the 2000 Republican nomination fight, when he believed Bush and his campaign had defeated him by nefarious means, McCain lunged to the center and became one of the sharpest thorns in the side of the new president from his own party. In the wake of the 2008 election, when he was soundly thumped by a Democratic challenger whom he regarded as a neophyte and a pretender whose experience and valor were no match for his own, McCain immediately shed all traces of mavericky independence and became one of Obama’s fiercest critics from the right. […]

Apparently Obama wasn’t so sick of it. 10.27pm GMT

Updated at 10.30pm GMT

FILE – DECEMBER 13: Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from the running for Secretary of State. NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 30: Susan E. Rice, ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), attends a UN Security Council meeting regarding the on-going situation in Syria on August 30, 2012 in New York City. UN Security Council negotiations regarding the situation in Syria collapsed last month. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) Continuity Horizontal Syria USA New York City Meeting Politics Ambassador UN Security Council United Nations Blocked Terms Diplomacy Attending Permanent Representative Susan Rice Situation Susan E. Rice, ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), attends a UN Security Council meeting regarding the on-going situation in Syria on August 30, 2012 in New York City.
10.13pm GMT

TPM’s Igor Bobic has a longer excerpt from Rice’s interview with Brian Williams to air tonight. Rice says that she didn’t want to see a disruptive confirmation process:

Today I made the decision that it was the best thing for our country, for the American people that I not continue to be considered by the president for secretary of state because I didn’t want to see a confirmation process that was very prolonged, very politicized, very distracting, and very disruptive because there are so many things we need to get done as a country, and the first several months of a second-term president’s agenda is really the opportunity to get the crucial things done. We’re talking about comprehensive immigration reform, balanced deficit reduction, job creation, that’s what matters, and to the extent that my nomination could have delayed or distracted or deflected or maybe even some of these priorities impossible to achieve, I didn’t want that and I’d much prefer to continue doing what I’m doing, which is a job I love at the United Nations. 10.11pm GMT

The GOP, Michelle Obama and favors to repay

Guardian Washington bureau chief Ewen MacAskill observes that the president was in a tight spot over the secretary of state nomination – but now he is not:

The Republicans might have done Obama a favour. The president was under pressure from two of the women in his life, wife Michelle and adviser Valerie Jarrett, to give the job to their friend Rice rather than to Kerry. Obama owes Kerry, having used him repeatedly as an envoy to help with sensitive issues such as relations with the Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai. Kerry was also the Mitt Romney stand-in during presidential debate practice. Rice had the necessary diplomatic credentials. She has been right about more issues than she has been wrong, being an early champion of the West taking a tougher line on the Darfur issue. But when she has failed, she has failed badly. She was responsible for African affairs in the Clinton administration, and critics – fairly or unfairly – blame her for doing little to prevent the rapid disintegration of the Congo, a conflict that is estimated to have cost at least two million lives.

On a small scale, she was humiliated a fortnight ago when the UN general assembly voted in favour of a step towards Palestinian statehood. Showing none of the humility such a defeat deserved, she put her head down in the assembly to read out a defiant statement that would have pleased few outside of Israel. Kerry, chairman of the Senate foreign affairs committee, has much wider experience in the diplomatic world, and knows already many of the world leaders. Rice’s departure from the field will be greeted with relief in foreign ministries round the world who have been on the receiving end of her rough tongue: that is, most of them. For the same reason, her continuation as UN ambassador will be greeted with groans at other UN missions. 10.06pm GMT

How spontaneous is the Rice news? She’s already taped an entire interview with NBC News’ Brian Williams, a snippet of which just aired.

Rice said that the president’s second term would see “an attempt to get the crucial things done… [and] to the extent that my nomination could have delayed or distracted [from these priorities]… I didn’t want that.”

She told Williams she’ll stay on as UN ambassador.

It’s gracious boilerplate for withdrawing nominees.

was #Susan Rice pushed or did she jump? — Barbara Slavin (@barbaraslavin1) December 13, 2012

9.59pm GMT
The rise and fall of the next secretary of state

At what point did the president decide the fight over Rice wasn’t worth it?

Obama was still fully behind his potential nominee when she made her trip to the Capitol Hill woodshed at the end of November, meeting with Sens. McCain, Lindsey Graham, (R-SC), Kelly Ayotte, (R-NH) and others.

“The concerns I have are greater today than they were before, we’re not even close to having the answers,” said Graham at a joint press conference following the meeting. “The American people got bad information on Sept. 16, bad information from the president after that, and the question is, should they have been given any information at all?”

Republicans accused Rice of misleading Congress and the public about what happened in Benghazi in the Sept. 11 attack that killed Amb. J. Christopher Stevens, a computer technician and two security contractors employed by the CIA.

The Obama administration, led publicly by Rice, initially made the attack on a US mission out to be part of a spontaneous protest over an anti-Islam video that had provoked such a protest that day in Cairo and elsewhere.

Later it emerged that there was no protest, that the attack was planned and that the mission was attached to a covert CIA post.

Five days after the attack, Rice made this misleading statement on NBC’s Meet the Press:

What happened in Benghazi was in fact initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo, almost a copycat of the demonstrations against our facility in Cairo, which were prompted, of course, by the video. Opportunistic extremist elements came to the consulate as this was unfolding. They came with heavy weapons, which unfortunately are readily available in post-revolutionary Libya, and it escalated into a much more violent episode. In the face of GOP criticism, the president said Rice was simply passing on the best information the intelligence community had at the time.

“If Senator McCain and Senator Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me,” Obama said. “And I’m happy to have that discussion with them. But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous.”

Instead Republicans decided to continue to go after Rice, a lead adviser on the president’s first campaign.

Rice was not just another adviser; aides of both have told me Obama considered her someone he had a strong kinship with. — Perry Bacon Jr. (@perrybaconjr) December 13, 2012

She was one of first national security wonks to join his camp in 2007 and played a big role suggesting Obama was experienced enough. — Perry Bacon Jr. (@perrybaconjr) December 13, 2012 9.55pm GMT

The Guardian’s Chris McGreal notes that criticism of Rice went beyond her performance after the Benghazi attack:

Although Republican ire focused on Rice’s role in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack that killed the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, she faced strong criticism from other quarters over her backing of African despots and her unflinching support of Israel. Hours before Rice withdrew from the race, Robert Wexler, a six-term former congressman who now heads a pro-Israel think tank in Washington, said of her that “Israel has no greater champion in the current administration than Susan Rice”. That’s a view shared by some of her critics who say she has gone beyond the call of duty in projecting US policy on Israel to became a passionate defender of the Jewish state despite Binyamin Netanyahu’s policies, calling criticism at the UN “anti-Israel crap”. Rice went to lengths to woo the biggest of the pro-Israel lobby groups, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rice has also come under strong criticism over her positions on Africa, most recently for trying to suppress a UN report strongly critical of the Rwandan government’s arming and other support for rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rice was a national security official in Bill Clinton’s White House who played a part in the US’s failure to act against the 1994 genocide of Rwanda’s Tutsis. Since then she has been an unswerving supporter of the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, who as a Tutsi rebel leader put a stop to the genocide even in the face of a growing body of evidence his forces are bound up with years of war crimes in Congo. Rice has also come under criticism for supporting other authoritarian leaders in Africa. In September she delivered a eulogy for the late prime minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, calling him “brilliant” and a “a true friend to me”. Meles had a long track record of bloody suppression of democracy. 9.39pm GMT

“I will do everything in my power to block [Rice] from being the United States secretary of state. She has proven that she either doesn’t understand or she is not willing to accept evidence on its face. There is no doubt five days later what this attack was and for” – Sen. John McCain on Fox News, Nov. 14, 2012

US Senator John McCain, speaks during the 8th Manama Dialogue security conference in Manama, Bahrain, 08 December 2012. The 8th Manama Dialogue organized by the London based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) which will run until 9 December 2012 will focus predominantly on Syria and broad regional security issues. EPA/MAZEN MAHDI US Senator John McCain, speaks during the 8th Manama Dialogue security conference in Manama, Bahrain, 08 December 2012.

McCain reaches for the brandy and mutters to himself, “It’s a great day for America.” Fade out. — David Corn (@DavidCornDC) December 13, 2012 9.35pm GMT

To many seasoned observers it looks like the president has just lost a high-profile fight with Republicans over a potential nominee he has very publicly defended, indeed is personally linked to.

BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith is reminded of the bloody Cabinet fights of Obama’s first term, when he had to nominate three commerce secretaries, including Bill Richardson, before he got one through, and when former Sen. Tom Daschle failed as a health secretary nominee. A bit of a repeat of very early term 1, esp on national security: Obama, bloodied up a little by the Hill, shows weakness. — Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) December 13, 2012 9.29pm GMT

Hagel thought to be front-runner for defense slot

Rice’s withdrawal isn’t the only action in cabinet shuffling this afternoon. Earlier today Bloomberg News reported that former Sen. Chuck Hagel had the completed the vetting process to be the secretary of defense nominee. The report describes Hagel as “the leading candidate to become Obama’s next Secretary of Defense.”

Another senator, John Kerry, also had been mentioned as a potential defense pick, perhaps as a consolation prize were he to be denied the job he really wants, secretary of state, which was thought to be occupied by Susan Rice.

Now Rice is out at state. And Hagel may be in at defense. Which for John Kerry could mean victory.

Here’s the Bloomberg report:

Hagel, who served as an enlisted Army infantryman in Vietnam, has passed the vetting process at the White House Counsel’s office, said one of the people. The former Nebraska senator has told associates that he is awaiting final word from the president, said the other person. Both requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Other contenders are Michele Flournoy, former defense undersecretary for policy, and Ashton Carter, deputy defense secretary, administration officials have said. Obama invited Hagel to the White House on Dec. 4 to discuss the position with him, according to an administration official. The president hasn’t made a final decision, said another official. Both asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney today declined to comment on whether Obama is considering Hagel, saying only that the two-term former lawmaker was widely respected. – 9.22pm GMT

Rice’s letter withdrawing her name

Here’s Rice’s letter to the president withdrawing from consideration as US secretary of state. “The position of secretary of state should never be politicized,” she says. Ambassador Susan Rice’s letter to President Obama (h/t: @thematthewkeys and @katierogers) 9.16pm GMT

The Guardian’s Ewen MacAskill sends President Obama’s full response on the Rice announcement. The president said he spoke with Rice today:

Today, I spoke to Ambassador Susan Rice, and accepted her decision to remove her name from consideration for Secretary of State. For two decades, Susan has proven to be an extraordinarily capable, patriotic, and passionate public servant. As my Ambassador to the United Nations, she plays an indispensable role in advancing America’s interests. Already, she has secured international support for sanctions against Iran and North Korea, worked to protect the people of Libya, helped achieve an independent South Sudan, stood up for Israel’s security and legitimacy, and served as an advocate for UN reform and the human rights of all people. I am grateful that Susan will continue to serve as our Ambassador at the United Nations and a key member of my cabinet and national security team, carrying her work forward on all of these and other issues. I have every confidence that Susan has limitless capability to serve our country now and in the years to come, and know that I will continue to rely on her as an advisor and friend. While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first. The American people can be proud to have a public servant of her caliber and character representing our country. 9.13pm GMT

Obama ‘deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack’ on Rice CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller gets the response from President Obama, who says he “deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack” on Rice, but her decision “demonstrates the strength of her character & an admirable commitment to rise above politics.” In written statement, Pres Obama says he “deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack” on Susan Rice, — Mark Knoller (@markknoller) December 13, 2012

In his first press conference after his reelection, the president struck a note of unusual perturbance in responding to Republican attacks on Rice.

“[Rice] has done exemplary work,” he said. “She has represented the United States… with skill and professionalism and toughness and grace. … and if Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me.” 9.11pm GMT

Rice out of the running for secretary of state

UN ambassador Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from consideration for secretary of state, NBC News has reported. A potential nomination for Rice, who for months was perceived to be the president’s top pick, has been the object of fierce opposition from Republicans, who accuse her of misconduct following the September attack on Benghazi.

“If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama obtained by NBC. “That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country … Therefore, I respectfully request that you no longer consider my candidacy at this time.”

We’ll be live-blogging developments. 9.04pm GMT

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Good honourable and ethical move by Rice. Rice has decided to ditch crony politics by sacrificing an opportunity that destroys democracy. Frankly ‘friends’ or seat holders in other places should not be ‘re-given’ posts. This should be something a panel should vote on and willing volunteers from a talent pool should sign on for for their 15 minutes of fame.

More than any other politician in America, her candidacy would change the contours of the next election.

Every Democrat with ambitions to succeed President Obama wants to know the answer to one question: Is Hillary Clinton going to run? If so, many will decide against doing so themselves. Who wants to square off against an opponent who’ll have a better fundraising operation, a better resume, and a spouse who happens to be America’s best surrogate? At the moment when the first black president is preparing to leave the White House, who will want to run against someone with a more than viable chance of becoming the first woman president?

“She seems like Democrats’ best bet, perhaps by some margin, to extend their winning streak to three or more terms in the White House,” Nate Silver notes. “If she ran even a point or two stronger than a ‘generic’ Democrat, the odds would shift meaningfully in her favor, holding other circumstances equal.”

But say Clinton doesn’t run. That changes everything, doesn’t it? Any Democratic primary without her would be dubbed “wide open.” Joe Biden may try to succeed his boss either way. But he is eminently beatable, as every aspiring alternative knows. He wouldn’t scare anyone away.

I won’t speculate about whether she’ll run. We’ll know in time. I’ll just say that it matters now that we don’t know, insofar as the uncertainty itself affects present behavior among certain Democrats.

I’d prefer it if Hillary Clinton stayed out of future races. My instinct is that she’d abuse executive power and civil liberties every bit as much as the man who appointed her to be secretary of state, especially now that he has acclimated the left to transgressing against transparency and the rule of law. What I can’t deny to Democrats is the likelihood that her foreign policy experience would permit her to retain her party’s edge on those issues, especially if she ran against someone as inexperienced as Marco Rubio, whose foreign-policy chops are hard to take seriously.

Grizzled feels more reassuring than boyish, does it not?

That isn’t to say she’d be a lock in the general election. About the only prediction I’m willing to make about Election 2016 is that Hillary Clinton would be a strong candidate barring a scandal.

But “likeable enough” to win?

What I’ll be most interested to see, if she does run, is how the conservative movement reacts to her candidacy. With relative sanity, insofar as they can’t very well accuse her of being a Kenyan anti-colonialist? With a return to the anti-Clintonian fervor of the 1990s? I suspect the latter reaction wouldn’t play well. Politicians who hang around long enough seem to become inured even to scandals in which they were actually caught red-handed. There isn’t anything so clear cut in Clinton’s past, and if many Americans are like me, the word “Whitewater” would send an involuntary shudder of dread coursing through the population, as if we were collectively told we’d have to re-watch the pre-trial motions from the O.J. Simpson trial while sequestered in a cheap hotel with nothing for diversion but Clinton-era back issues of The American Spectator.

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Can see the family blocs in 3rd world countries ready to jump on this opportunity to justify nepotism . . . do the right thing USA. Political culture is bad enough as is. Then the impossibly timely occurance below :

First stomach virus THEN concussion after ‘accepting’ the run for Presidency? (After Bill then Hillary, what next? Clinton’s children for President as well? Might as well run and declare USA a monarchy . . . no hate there but the 3rd world really cannot do with any justifications for nepotism arising from USA of all places! The Presidency of the United States and even so many high official posts should never be a hand down post, if a seat has been held by a family member, no way should the seat be allowed to another from the Clintons – the friends and cronies issue of seat/post hand downs are already bad enough, don’t start a trend . . . ) False flag or a warning by greater forces or even a warning by USA to 3rd world countries in the form of a false flag? Anything to put a stop to nepotism which destroys democracy and leads to dictatorship.

ARTICLE 10

Charlie Gonzalez’s Departure from Congress Marks End to Political Dynasty – Published December 17, 2012 – Fox News Latino

Charlie Gonzalez

San Antonio, Tex. – The retirement from Congress of Rep. Charlie Gonzalez is ending a half-century streak during which his father, then he, served in Congress, representing their San Antonio district.

The outgoing chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus served 14 years after replacing his famous father, Henry B. Gonzalez, who carved out a lasting legacy as a political reformer and civil rights leader.

Charlie Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat, is returning to private life after deciding to not seek an eighth term. Taking his seat is Joaquin Castro, whose family packs its own celebrity pedigree: His twin brother is San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, a rising star on the national stage who was the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention this year.

Charlie Gonzalez told the San Antonio Express-News that he’s leaving with a “sense of sadness.”

“It’s a job, but it’s an incredible job. The people, the surroundings, nothing compares to it,” Gonzalez said. “It is bittersweet. That is the best way to describe it.”

Charlie Gonzalez was first elected in 1988. His father served for 37 years and was chairman of the House Banking Committee, which wielded power over financial institutions and was instrumental in pushing reforms. The elder Gonzalez used that clout to push for public housing and programs for the homeless.

Larry Hufford, a political science professor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, said the elder Gonzalez pursued social justice in a time when it wasn’t fashionable. Charlie Gonzalez represented a 20th congressional district that, by the end of this last term, covered impoverished barrios on the city’s West side as well as middle-class and affluent neighborhoods to the north.

When it came to national issue, Charlie Gonzalez used his status Hispanic Caucus chairman to push for immigration reform.

“Charlie was able to carry on that legacy with a much different style; more low-keyed but very effective,” Hufford said.

Charlie Gonzalez dismissed suggestions that he could wind up being an appointee in President Barack Obama’s second term or be elected to a statewide office. A Democrat hasn’t been elected statewide in Texas since 1994.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Gonzalez’s decision to leave Congress marks the “end of an era.”

“To decide on my own when to leave Congress, that wasn’t a decision wasted on me,” Charlie Gonzalez said. “I’m a blessed individual. Rather than having circumstances imposed on my life, I’m looking forward to this next chapter in my life. It is my encore career.”

This is based on a story by The Associated Press.

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Rare example of ethics. there is nothing beneficial personally for Gonzalez in quitting, but every such quit makes Democracy stronger and makes nepotism and oligarchy weaker. THIS should be the criteria for state awards or monuments than anything else. There is no end to wealth and power, and once enough politicians focus their value system on higher values away from the greed or power-madness fog, the super-pac, too big to fail, and plutocrat/corporate lobbyist and eventually the economy issues, will be easier to fathom and deal with. This is a form of ethics, as preventing nepotism is as dangerous as corruption in politics.

Tanis Baker, 21, dressed as a ninja to ‘strike fear in the hearts of criminals
He was arrested after officers who spotted him became concerned
He was soon surrounded by armed police, dogs and a helicopter
Two hidden rucksacks containing smokebombs and costumes found after arrest

Comic book fan: Tanis Baker told police he was a vigilante in a ninja costume after police arrested him while armed with a homemade wooden Samurai sword

A would-be vigilante was arrested by armed police after he dressed up as a ninja and armed himself with a wooden Samurai sword.

Mystery man-in-black Tanis Baker, 21, wanted to ‘strike fear’ in the hearts of criminals in his neighbourhood just like his comic book idols.

But a court heard Baker ended up on the wrong side of the law after dressing up in ninja-style black body armour and a mask.

He armed himself with smoke bombs and a home-made wooden Samurai sword then crouched in the darkness in a park ready to pounce on any troublemakers.

But a police officer saw Baker in the shadows – and he called for back-up because of his concerns over the mystery figure.

Within minutes he was surrounded by armed officers, police dogs and a helicopter hovering overhead above Beechwood Park in Newport, South Wales.

He was arrested and officers found two hidden rucksacks containing seven smoke bombs and other vigilante costumes.

Magistrates at Cwmbran, South Wales, heard he told police he was a ‘vigilante in a costume’ and that he wanted to help people in trouble.

He claimed to be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the police on the streets and wanted to strike fear into criminals.

The probation officer who assessed him said Baker was a fan of American comic book superheroes.

His probation report said: ‘He seems to get confused between fantasy and reality and sometimes had trouble distinguishing between what was in comic books and what was real life.’

The court heard that in real life Baker is no superhero but works as a barman in a snooker club in Newport, South Wales.

Hi-ya! Mr Tanis said he dressed up as a ninja to ‘strike fear’ in the hearts of criminals in Newport (picture posed by model)

Louise Warren, defending, said: ‘Baker was bullied for many years and struggled growing up in his neighbourhood.

‘He was attacked by a gang of youths while out with his sister a year ago, but police were unable to find the offenders.

‘Since then Baker has wanted to help the police to protect society.’

The court heard Baker was asked what he would do if he encountered a real crime and said he had not thought that far ahead.

Superhero: How Baker might have looked when he was arrested while dressed as a vigilante ninja

He was given a 12-month supervision order and ordered to carry out 60 hours unpaid work.

Chairman of the magistrates Paul Lavin, said: ‘You may have thought you were helping but you caused a lot of trouble.

‘Do not do this in future or else you’ll be in big trouble.’

Baker, of Cwmbran, South Wales, admitted having an offensive weapon in a public place.

He declined to comment after the case.

Storm in a teacup as The Ninja of Newport has to meet the authorities somehow when he makes his introduction but now he could supply them with a trusty Ninjaphone to ring him in their hour of need to save the day and help restore law and order showing the baddies there’s a new guy in town and his name is THE NINJA OF NEWPORT!!! *plays national anthem*

– Stuart , Edinburgh Scotland, United Kingdom, 13/12/2012 18:34

We need more vigilantes on the street, but we criminalise them instead. Take Phoenix jones of Seattle, he and his friends do a great job, lawfully and prevent crimes, as well as assisting law officers.

– Illuminati cards , Bunker, 13/12/2012 18:49

What part was illegal ? Smoke bombs aren’t illegal, they are let off at paintballing sites, and wooden sticks aren’t illegal unless something new has happened, that makes drumming against the law.

– mileage , Barry, 13/12/2012 18:49

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Look here anyone is allowed to cosplay a ninja or favourite super hero (or Otaku genre!) character. Orwell has taken over Newport. More ‘ninjas’ or cosplayers should lurk ‘ in the shadows ‘, SPECIFICALLY to see what the local enforcement does. Good work Tanis! Now we all know that Newport is not a free sort of place. A really free minded place would give a verbal warning or even co-opt the ‘ninja’ as an eccentric member of the neighbourhood watch who refused to work with the formal watch. More cosplayers! And know that permission for carrying actual weapons can be obtained and if registered should not be an offence.

But a wooden sword? Thats not even a weapon. A really long carving knife is more dangerous than a wooden sword and is legal to carry around. A handgun is more dangerous than the above and still is legal. Lurking might be addressed with a simple request. And the reasons given are only to protect society! What gives Newport? More cosplayers and lurkers EVERYWHERE! How about openly walking around with masks, costumes and ‘lurking’ in corners for the rest of the week Newporters! I’m surprised Tanis did not challenge the judgment. Where’s that US culture of freedom and vigilante-ism? For the conservative types, try Cowboys and Indians with camping knives, whips and 6 shooters for a start . . . set up camp in a ‘lurky’ area EVERYDAY in shifts. See what the local enforcement does . . . we’ll know where Orwell LURKS instead – then set up a map of ‘people friendly’ and ‘people unfriendly’ places, the 99% will know how to vote or which laws to amend . . .

House Speaker John Boehner has made a decision that will make some wealthy Americans squeal, while making most Americans smile.

Boehner, after weeks of rhetoric that Republicans and Democrats were miles apart on fiscal cliff talks, relented on a stance that high earners shouldn’t see higher taxes. Now, Boehner has agreed to raise taxes on Americans making more than $1 million, reversing an earlier position that all Bush Era tax cuts should stand.

The move by Boehner is particularly significant for several reasons. First, it’s a gesture toward compromise— Democrats wanted taxes raised on Americans making more than $250,000, while Republicans, at first, would have none of it—and suggests the two sides may finally become serious about averting the fiscal cliff. Next, the tax hikes would increase federal coffers by some $1 trillion over 10 years; President Obama has demanded $1.4 trillion in new revenue, but at least the pols’ figures are growing closer. And Boehener’s decision is a refreshing signal that, when confronted with dire forecasts—like the one that predicts a recession to start 2013 if the fiscal cliff happens—Washington, D.C can put aside partisinism and past promises. Though, I imagine that Grover Norsquist takes little glee from Boehner’s shift.

Republicans are the first to sacrifice a sacred cow. Now, Democrats must too. What mostly impedes progress? Some $200 billion. That’s the difference between the spending cuts in federal health care programs that Republicans want ($600 billion) and Democrats want ($400 billion).

Investors will probably take this move by the pols as evidence that a deal will eventually come. We haven’t piled out of stocks quite like you might think. Indeed, the major benchmarks this month have gained about 4%. There hasn’t been that complete flight to safety—into the cash-generative arms of Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Walt Disney—and away from risk—fleeing the speculation around a Research In Motion comeback or better times for Alpha Natural.

Still, the cliff today looks less like a chasm than it did just a few days earlier.

Reach Abram Brown at abrown@forbes.com.

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Squeal? What they earn in a year is an entire lifetimes 401K or many times more than 401K which the 99% takes decades to earn, these wealthy Americans are just SPOILT. Boehner did good, and if the wealthy Americans are too squealy, they are welcome to move to a favourite country of their choice – as mentioned before all assets a country has are land and resource divided by number of citizens not useless fiat. the US A will be happy to have 1 citizen less and more to share among those who stay.

ARTICLE 12.5

French wealthy ‘feel victimised by tax’ – by Hugh Schofield – 10 December 2012 Last updated at 15:02 GMT Help

Actor Gerard Depardieu has become the latest wealthy person to flee France’s 75% tax on those earning over 1m euros a year.

The star has bought a house over the border in the Belgian village of Nechin.

France’s richest man, Bernard Arnault has already applied for Belgian citizenship and thousands of other wealthy French people are making the move.

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The ‘wealthiest’ will NEVER pay enough because in 1 year they earn 10 lifetimes what most ‘wealthiest’ Frenchmen earn in decades EVEN AFTER TAX. No place for Marie Antoinettes here . . . and 75% tax is not enough because they can hold assets up to 75,000% of what the ordinary french person has with the very wealthiest earning 7500% of what the 99% does EVEN AFTER TAX. 75% of 100 million of the less ecxeptional wealthiest is still 25 million in earnings, 75% of 10 million is 2.5 million in earnings which is easily 10 times what the 99% earn in a lifetime . . . Victimised?

Some Frenchmen can’t even buy French bread or have a French roof! That money goes to social services not banquets for the French officials I hope, otherwise time to storm the Bastille again . . . 75% tax is farcical considering the above facts.

The issue of child prostitution and its supposed alter-ego, adult prostitution, are personal to me because I’ve experienced both, having been prostituted between the ages of fifteen and twenty-two.

I sometimes think of what those who knew nothing of me would have thought of me, as they caught glimpses of me, on the different stages of those seven years. Who doubts that the majority would have looked at my young teenaged self and wondered what sort of world we lived in? And who doubts, if they’re honest, that many would have looked at my young adult self and wondered what sort of women populated it?

This is the dichotomy of adult and child and they are viewed as very separate, very distinct, so that there is a clearly perceived line between these stages, these ages, but in fact it is not a line. It is a bridge. It is a bridge that spans the in-between; that gap that connects the points in the lives of so many women who were prostituted first as children then as adults. I lived that bridge in my own prostitution life, when I was turning from a child into a woman, and I was used sexually for money on most of the days that made up my adolescence, as I was before in childhood and afterwards in early adulthood. And here is the crux of the matter: it was all the same nightmare to me.

People chose though, before and after those in-between years, whether I was blameless or blameworthy. In the interim, while I existed in the in-between, each individual who looked at me or fucked me had the privilege of making up their own mind. Many did, and most chose the latter.

After that, when I was identifiably a woman, it was not a case of ‘most’ anymore, but ‘almost all’ – because almost all those who looked at me in my young adulthood decided that I’d chosen what was happening, and saw it as what I was doing rather than what was being done to me.

The ‘done to me’ aspect died, you see, along with my adolescence in the perspectives of other people. The problem was it didn’t die, and I was still alive, living the ‘done to me’ reality every day.

As a fourteen-year-old girl, a full year before I ever started prostituting, I first realised that some men felt an actual entitlement to my body. This was perfectly expressed by the extreme belligerence they’d display when I rejected their advances. They would be so angry. ‘How dare you?’ said their actions. I couldn’t make any sense of that attitude. It was literally like someone was speaking in a foreign language to me, and it was a foreign language in a sense; it was the language of sexual entitlement. I became fluent in the language eventually, but fluent in the sense of someone speaking a language not of their origin; someone who can understand it audibly, but will never be able to write it.

At that time though, I couldn’t imagine how anyone could think it was okay to walk up to someone on the street and wrap your arms around them, or grope somebody, or growl what you’d like to do to them into their ear. But I had all these experiences as a fourteen-year-old girl and I’d had three approaches by paedophiles as a pre-pubescent child, and still I could not fathom why and how this was supposed to be acceptable in the view of these men, why this was supposed to be okay. I remember one man’s surprise and affront as he told me “You’re very standoffish!” after I pulled away from a physical embrace I didn’t initiate, ask for, permit or fucking want.

These experiences came thick and fast from the age of fourteen, when I began to be more noticeably developing breasts. It is little wonder I became fluent in the language of male sexual entitlement. Facial expressions, aggressive stances, weary sighs, protracted silences – all these too make up part of that language, all these are used to communicate the idea that you’re expected to consent when a man decides he will have rights to your body.

So I’d had some schooling, in that sense, as to what prostitution expected of me. What I didn’t know was how bad it was going to get. I couldn’t have known that before I experienced it. It was unknowable. Well, I soon found out, and what I found out didn’t get any better on the day I turned eighteen and it didn’t get any better on the day I turned twenty-one either.

They bother me, these stupid irrelevant lines that are drawn that attempt to divide the lived reality of the prostitution experience based on whether a female is fifteen or seventeen, seventeen or nineteen, eighteen or twenty. They are diversions to the central matter at hand; they divert from the core issue. They disappear the fact that this is wrong, not only by degrees that deepen with the youthfulness of its target, but by its nature, so that all those who’ve been paid for sex they do not want have suffered sexual abuse. There is a shelf-life for women in prostitution, but there is no shelf-life for the nature of prostitution. Its abusive core does not morph into something else on a person’s eighteenth birthday. Not that many men wait that long in the first place.

And on that note, people need to start querying what is the criterion for fuckability according to sex-buying men? What is their divining rod for ‘of age’? Is it a pair of breasts? My experience of prostitution is that it is any pair of breasts, regardless that they’re still developing; and this we’ve got to see as a form of sexual selfishness that has decayed to the point where it’s putrid. It is also a nonsense of a position, because if a pair of breasts at any stage of development signify completed womanhood then every females adulthood actually began at the onset of puberty; not began to form, but began in full. Every woman was a woman before she was a woman, by that ludicrous standard.

I am sure we will have a lot of indignation from sex buyers on this point, but as a fifteen-year-old child with developing breasts I was abused by a multitude of these men every day; men, some of whom would never have considered themselves paedophiles or predators or abusers – and I saw the same men pay to use the bodies of other adolescents with breasts, one of them just thirteen years old, so I can assure the reader that these men assured themselves wherever there was the presence of breasts there was the absence of childhood.

Added to this, men who buy sex are obsessed with the act of despoilment; they are, as a group, blatantly obsessed with the desire to fuck the youngest girl they can find. The upshot of this of course is that there is great commercial value placed on youth in prostitution. I have thought at length and written a little about Prostitution and the Commercial Value of Youth, and I know both that this exists as a reality in prostitution and that is speaks with great clarity to the putrid sexual selfishness I’ve just mentioned.

So adolescents are fair game in prostitution; I’ve made my point, but it’s important also to look at an uncanny resemblance here: adolescence is the physical reality, the mirror image made flesh and form, of that place where a woman is halfway between being prostituted and being trafficked. That point where women go to other countries knowing they’ll be working in the sex trade, but not knowing what that reality really means, or not knowing that they’ll be charged four and five figure sums for the privilege of their prostitutions organisation. This is another of prostitutions in-betweens. They exist in various forms, and very often these mid-spectrum situations are misrepresented and then misappropriated so that they can be used to gloss over the reality of the sex trade. For example those women who are working back thousands of euros/dollars/pounds of money they supposedly ‘owe’ are not classified as trafficking victims, although that is what they are. The sex industry calls them ‘independent escorts’ and ignores and erases the misery of their lives.

In the same way, people who live prostitution during the transition between childhood and adulthood must be mislabelled and filed away, inconvenient as they are. They must be either a child or an adult according to the sex industry, and also, disturbingly, to some anti-trafficking groups. Some groups decide to find a way around this by subdividing adolescence into stages where those from twelve to fourteen are deemed worthy of sympathy and attention, while fifteen to seventeen-year-olds are brushed to one side with the gut-churning excuse that they have so much more ‘personal agency’.

When, I would like to ask the senior members of these groups, did my personal agency begin? Because by their criterion it seems to me it began at the stroke of midnight as I entered my fifteenth year, which makes me feel like a very sorry version of Cinderella; except the slipper in this fairytale was never going to fit because it had been shattered, and believe me, Prince Charming was nowhere to be seen. I had no more personal agency at fifteen than I had the year before, in fact I had significantly less, because at fourteen I had only six months of homelessness behind me; at fifteen I had a year and a half. In homelessness your desperation increases with time, not decreases. If people think ‘personal agency’ always increases with the forward march of time they are lucky people who’ve never had to deal with the miserable conditions of their own lives intensifying with time, and they’re obviously so detached from that life experience they’ve never even considered it.

By drawing distinctions between trafficking and prostitution, between under and over eighteen, some well-intentioned anti-trafficking organisations acquiesce to the perpetuation of a system known to be extremely violent and damaging while continuing to stigmatise and blame most of its victims. This stigmatisation maintains the disempowerment and marginalisation of the same population these groups want to help. It also empowers the predators who prey on our most vulnerable, whether under or over eighteen.

FreeIrishWoman

ARTICLE 14

Prostitution and the Commercial Value of Youth – Posted on June 3, 2012

People who argue that prostitution would be free of coercion, trafficking, the exploitation of minors – and everything else that prevents it from being some kind of all-above-board consenting-adults-only autonomy party – are people who ignore one vital aspect of prostitutions reality. It is the commercial value of youth.

Just as in some actual industries, like modelling or professional dance, youth is highly prized among attributes. Unlike modelling or dance though, youth in prostitution is prized far above beauty and the fluidity of movement. In order to be most highly in demand in prostitution, you don’t need to be the prettiest flower in the field; you just need to be among the youngest. And what you can or cannot do with your body is irrelevant; it just matters that it hasn’t been on the planet for very long.

One of the commonest questions that comes through on any brothels phone line is ‘What age is the youngest girl you have?’ I could not count the times I have been asked that question, and I defy anybody who has answered a brothels phone to tell the blatant lie that it is not the commonest question they’ve been asked too.

The commercial value of youth is so profoundly built-in to prostitution that women routinely lie about their age in order to generate more business. The clients know this, of course, and even as women are shaving a few years off clients are adding a few on. ‘I’m twenty-six – I’ll tell him I’m twenty-three’ / ‘She’s twenty-three? – that means she’s twenty-six’.

Nobody’s fooling anybody here, and the only thing the whole pathetic charade is any good for is the revealing nature of what’s going on behind the pretence. What it reveals, of course, is that men who buy bodies for sex usually want to buy the youngest body they can find.

Last year it was reported to the BBC that prostitutes as young as thirteen were working the streets in Swindon, in the English county of Wiltshire. “Come here at the weekend and you’ll get 13-year-old girls to 19-year-old girls out here”, one prostitute told reporters.

When I read reports like these I just sigh. It tires me to pre-empt the shock people will express. It tires me to imagine that shock, whether it is genuine or not, because if it is genuine then that proves we have a long way to go in educating people about the reality of prostitution, and if it is not, well then, here is yet more in a tsunami of evidence that there are those who do not want the reality of prostitution understood.

Whenever any evidence of teenaged prostitution is revealed the pro-prostitution lobby move immediately to put forth the preposterous assertion that this town is somehow different or unique. The attitude is always either ‘thirteen-year-olds, good Lord, who ever heard of such a thing?’ – or ‘thirteen-year-olds, good Lord, we could clear up this situation if we legalised prostitution!’ – as if somehow the demand for adolescent bodies would vanish if only we’d make the sale of adult bodies okay!

Usually, however, they will simply deny that adolescent prostitution is widespread, or that adolescents are much in demand in the first place.

‘How do we know this is true?’ will come the query from the pro-prostitution lobby. It is not a query in the genuine sense of the word. A real query seeks an answer. This query seeks to obscure the same answer it purports to be seeking.

This will seem strange and confusing to some people. It is neither strange nor confusing to me; I’ve been exposed to the tactics of the pro-prostitution lobby for too long to be surprised or confused by these sorts of seemingly tangled and nonsensical tactics. What people need to understand is that they are not nonsensical. These are obscurest policies and they are purposeful and predictable, and when you understand their purpose you will have no problem predicting them too.

Their purpose is consistently the same; it is to deny and refute the sick and twisted nature of what actually goes on in prostitution. The truth they don’t want to you know is that men who pay for sex will most often opt to pay for a fifteen-year-old over a seventeen-year-old, a seventeen-year-old over a nineteen-year-old, a nineteen-year-old over a twenty-one-year-old, and so on and so forth.

Now, let me be very clear about this – I will be called a liar for having asserted the above. It will be said that I am trying to demonise punters, that I am telling lies about their preferences and proclivities. I wish I was. In my first year in prostitution, when I was fifteen-years-old, I was used by countless hundreds of men; I truly couldn’t say how many. I saw up to ten men a day so you may do the maths for yourself (the thoughts of doing that calculation disturbs me). As I stated in my Examiner article back in February, men were so obviously aroused by my youth it made them climax very quickly, so I soon learned to tell them how old I was in order to shorten the whole ordeal. I made it a policy; it was one of the first things I said when I got into the car – not that I needed to bring up the subject because it was usually one of the first questions asked of me.

In all those hundreds of men, one man, just ONE, turned his van around and brought me back to where he’d found me.

So yes, those who advocate for legalised or decriminalised prostitution will do their damnedest to obscure the truth about the high commercial value placed on young bodies in prostitution, all the while squawking ‘Where’s the evidence? Where’s the evidence?’ – like some kind of belligerent and demented parrot, with all the repetitiveness and severe comprehension issues you’d expect. All beak and no brains, in other words.

This is to be expected; of course the pro-prostitution lobby don’t want you to know that girls who are post-puberty by only a year or two are routinely lusted after, sought out, highly prized and then abused for enough years ‘till they’ve lost much of their commercial value. If that was widely known, it would do a great deal of damage to the autonomous, sexually-liberated, empowerment fantasy depiction they are consistently trying to peddle.

As for ‘Where’s the evidence?’ – I don’t need to ask that question. When I was a fifteen-year-old prostitute I was FAR more in-demand than I ever was as a twenty-two-year-old, even though at twenty-two I was slim, pretty, and an extremely youthful woman; but therein lay the problem. I was a woman.

There is huge emphasis placed on the commercial value of youth in prostitution. ‘The evidence’ is in every brothel and red-light zone in the land, and I know that because I lived the evidence.

A good blog post typifying a particular ‘staid’ type of sex worker who happened to start working out of necessity early from environmental issues, but has somehow remained in the field by choice while not liking the field too much. Perhaps some personal issues about being denied other opportuunities when younger. @FreeIrishWoman seems to enjoy the sense of indignation working as a sex worker and who knows in some twisted manner, gains strength at the cutting at the conscience of her clients one can read from the writing. The ethical hirers who do want 100% consensual and a clear conscience should give this particular worker a skip. The ‘mean’ lot who gravitate from morality to desire from religious probably, would doubtless be twice attracted. While sex would be available, sex positivism is not to be found here!

Decriminalising prostitution could mean better safety and improved relations with police for sex workers. A series of gang attacks on brothels in east London has triggered calls for changes to the prostitution laws after victims who reported knifepoint robberies said they ended up being threatened with prosecution. A police investigation has been launched as senior Labour and Conservative members of the London assembly and the English Collective of Prostitutes allege that violent crime is being given a lower priority than less serious sex offences.

The attacks highlight the growing debate over calls for New Zealand’s pioneering decriminalisation of sex work to be considered – an approach recently supported by the Association of Chief Police Officers. What is said by sex workers to be a spate of robberies – involving cash and jewellery – coincides with an increase in police raids on east London addresses being used as brothels before the 2012 London Olympics.

The first address targeted was in Barking, east London, on 6 December. A video showing five men apparently breaking into another house in the area being used by sex workers is also being studied by officers. The women who made the first complaint allege they recognise some of the gang members from the YouTube clip. In a third attack, at a different address, a woman who worked as a maid at a brothel is alleged to have been raped by the gang. None of the victims there reported the offence for fear of being charged by officers with living off the proceeds of prostitution; the police say they are so far unaware of this incident.

The ECP said changes to the law, in response to fears over the forcible trafficking of foreign sex workers into Britain, have made it more difficult for women to work together in houses for safety. A letter of complaint sent by Niki Adams, a leading ECP activist who works with Legal Action for Women, to the borough police commander in Barking last month, said the way the investigation into the first incident had been pursued had discouraged “sex workers from reporting attacks”. The letter continued: “The 6 December attack was at knifepoint and the women felt they had to try and protect themselves. They think the assailants may well be the same people who have robbed them before, who have got away with it, and so have returned and become more violent as they have got bolder.

“Targeting women for prosecution in this way undermines any attempts to catch those who attack and exploit sex workers … We are receiving reports of incidents where women have been attacked and their attackers have told them brazenly that they know women won’t dare go to the police.” Adams believes there may have been as many as 20 attacks in the area over the past two years. The Metropolitan police confirmed it was aware of the 6 December attack and the YouTube video and is investigating whether the attacks are linked. “We can confirm that we were called to an alleged incident of aggravated burglary at an address in Victoria Road, Barking,” a statement said.

“Patrolling officers arrived at the scene and were quickly accompanied by scene of crime officers and detectives from Barking and Dagenham CID. Detectives also visited the venue on a further occasion to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident. “Unfortunately, those at the address were unwilling to substantiate the allegation or further assist with the investigation despite a number of attempts for them to do so. The case remains under investigation and should any further information come to light it will of course be vigorously pursued.” The force said “a notice has been served to the registered owner of the venue in Victoria Road under the auspices of section 33a of the Sexual Offences Act 1956. The notice formally notified the recipient that they were liable to prosecution should the premises in Victoria Road remain in use as a brothel”. Referring to the YouTube video, the police said: “We are looking to see if the attacks are linked. Officers take any such reports extremely seriously and actively encourage all members of the community, particularly those who may be vulnerable to such incidents, to come forward and contact police. “Officers at Barking and Dagenham work hard to ensure that the borough remains a safe place for all residents. The welfare of victims remains our primary concern and we acknowledge that some members of the community are more vulnerable and susceptible to crime. “We strive to encourage and support female victims and to assist us further we are in the process of launching a bespoke multi-agency victim care service. This will see female victims receiving the best possible support and will include fast-track referrals to housing and health professionals as well as Safer Neighbourhood reassurance intervention.”

Prostitution itself is not illegal but associated activities – such as kerb crawling, placing advertising cards in phoneboxes and working in premises with more than one person available for paid sex – are outlawed.

Last November Simon Byrne, Acpo’s lead officer on prostitution and sexual exploitation, suggested there was a need for a fresh look at the legal balance. Then deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester, Byrne is in the process of moving to the Met as assistant commissioner. “There is a great amount of academic research available, much of which supports the view that an alternative approach is needed,” he wrote on his official Acpo blog. “An example would be the decriminalisation and regulation of brothels in Australia and New Zealand, not an answer to all of the related issues but certainly a solution to some.

“More of those involved in sex work in Australia and New Zealand can now access health services with ease, whilst maintaining more personal security in an emotive area for policing.”

Another proponent of reform is Andrew Boff, a Conservative member of the London assembly. “The law is framed so as to put women [sex workers] into the most vulnerable position,” he said. “The changes brought in by the last government seemed to [be derived from] the view that every single worker in the sex trade was trafficked. “People are not willing to come forward over these attacks. When they report them, the women themselves have had action taken against them. I’m compiling a report on the problem for Boris Johnson.”

Len Duvall, the leader of the Labour group at the London assembly, said: “We need to examine in greater detail information and case studies from those countries that have sought to legalise prostitution, including the model put forward by New Zealand, especially if it provides a degree of protection for sex workers and reduces crimes associated with prostitution.

“Where brothels have not posed a problem to the wider community and there has been no evidence of sex trafficking, I have heard evidence that the police have taken an inconsistent and heavy-handed approach in dealing with sex workers. There is also evidence that crimes against sex workers are being ignored.”

Earlier this month, Sheila Farmer, a sex worker who operated with other women out of shared premises, had charges of brothel-keeping against her dismissed at Croydon crown court. The Crown Prosecution Service said there had been no change in enforcement policy; the unexpected failure of a witness to appear led to the charge being withdrawn. Farmer said she had chosen to work with other women for safety because she had been attacked previously when working alone.

Nigel Richardson, the solicitor who represented her, said he was aware of another case in Surrey where women had reported an attack on their flat from a rival operation. “They were visited by two men who threatened the women and were pouring petrol around the place,” he said.

“My client called the police. Officers intially took the attack very seriously but eventually arrested my client. The men were never brought to book for an assault but my client was prosecuted for running a brothel.”

Tim Barnett, the British-born former New Zealand MP who pushed through his adopted country’s decriminalisation legislation in 2003, was in London before Christmas where he briefed Boff and Duvall. “We said let’s make the law the best to minimise harm,” he said at the time. “We set up a review of the legislation. A number of people said the number of sex workers would rise.

“So we reviewed it after five years in 2008. The review didn’t find any increase and there was an improvement in the relationship with the police. Sex workers were using their rights under the legislation to deal with poor-quality brothel owners or clients who had been behaving abusively.”

Think deeper and not be influenced by the agenda laden NPPs . . . this is NOT to be used as ‘proof’ of support of rape. This is the offense that might cause rape . . .

ARTICLE 16

NHS doctors to be forced to work weekends for the first time in push for improved seven-day a week care – by Daily Mail Reporter – PUBLISHED: 15:45 GMT, 16 December 2012 | UPDATED: 23:19 GMT, 16 December 2012

Oupatients appointments and surgical procedures could be carried out on Saturdays and Sundays for the first time
The shake up is part of plans by Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of the new NHS Commissioning Board

Seven days: Sir Bruce Keogh plans to introduce seven day working to the NHS

Doctors could be forced to work at weekends under plans to create a health service with supermarket-style opening hours.

Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS’s medical director, said that patients, like shoppers, should be entitled to the same quality of service on Saturday and Sunday as during the week.

He said it was no longer acceptable for hospitals and GPs’ surgeries to operate for the convenience of their staff at the expense of patients and that clinics and day case operations should be available seven days a week.

It should also be possible to get weekend hospital appointments for scans and GPs should provide slots to treat patients at weekends, he said.

The proposal is to be considered by the NHS Commissioning Board in an effort to improve access to healthcare.

He told the Sunday Times: ‘Our system has been based around providing as good a working environment as you can for the people who work in the health service, which isn’t necessarily matched with what the people who want services have.

‘If you wanted a day case operation, and you didn’t want to take a day off work, why can’t you have it on a Saturday or Sunday?’

‘Tesco have had to go through this – it was a complex issue for them – we will need to look at the terms and conditions or service of people.’

He added that having empty clinics and operating theatres on a Saturday and Sunday is a waste of NHS resources.

Research by the board found that a patient admitted to hospital on a Sunday was 16 per cent more likely to die than if they were admitted on a Wednesday.

Keogh can introduce the changes and implement financial rewards and penalties to ensure that hospitals follow the guidelines.

Contract changes: Many medical professionals will have to work Saturdays and Sundays for the first time

The plans will no doubt anger doctors who will be keen to protect their current working hours.

Medical professionals will not receive any extra money for working weekends but will be given days off in the week instead.

The proposals will be fully outlined in the NHS Commissioning Board’s first planning guidance which will detail how health funds will be spent ahead and which will be released on Tuesday.

The British Medical Association (BMA) last night rejected the idea that that the medical profession could learn from private firms such as Tesco but it was ‘open’ to discussing seven day working.

How to charge for medical treatment.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Try this. Instead of all doctors having Saturdays and Sundays off, some doctors could have Mondays and Tuesdays off, then the overlap from different shift doctors should cover everything.

Day shift should focus on geriatrics and paediatrics (adult people working will put off visits to nighttime and will not visit during the day) while evening shift will be more popular for the adults. Midnight shift should have the least staff (most people sleeping), though everyone not of the above groups might visit, emergency services from racers gettti8ng into accidents and drunks getting into fights will make up the most of this shift. The fact that the one can get medical aid 24/7 makes for a safer feeling in any district overall.

ARTICLE 17

Is this the end of paper banknotes? Plastic version could be in your pocket in just three years – by Rebecca Evans – PUBLISHED: 00:04 GMT, 17 December 2012 | UPDATED: 00:04 GMT, 17 December 2012

Overhaul could see environmentally-friendly notes introduced from 2015
Have proved a success since being introduced in Australia in 1988
Plastic lasts much longer and are more hygienic but more expensive to make

Plastic banknotes are set to be introduced in Britain, replacing the paper money used for more than 300 years.

The radical overhaul could see the more durable, waterproof and harder-to-counterfeit polymer sterling notes in circulation within three years.

The Bank of England has put out a £1billion tender from 2015 for the printing of notes at its press in Debden, Essex.

Paper money could be replaced within three years after being used for more than three centuries

Part of this process demands that bidders are able to cope with the change from paper to plastic from the start of the contract.

Since 2003, the contract has been held by De La Rue – one of only two makers of polymer notes.

The company, which prints more than 150 currencies, has just produced new plastic banknotes for the Pacific island of Fiji.

Plastic notes were first introduced in Australia in 1988 as a measure against counterfeiting.

They have proved a success, and are apparently particularly popular with surfers who are able to keep money in their pockets without it disintegrating.

Other countries to issue polymer notes include New Zealand, Romania, Papua New Guinea, Mexico and Vietnam. In Northern Ireland, a plastic fiver was introduced in 1999 to mark the Millennium.

The Bank’s chief cashier Chris Salmon has already said plastic notes were being looked at as a possibility to replace paper money

Plastic notes last much longer than cotton fibre-based paper ones. For instance, an Australian $5 bill lasts about 40 months, against six months for a £5 note.

Polymer notes are more hygienic as they absorb fewer bacteria, harder to tear or crease – making them easier for vending machines – and waterproof, even able to survive being put in the washing machine.

A key feature is a clear window, which normally contains an ‘optical variable device’ that splits light into its component colours and is extremely hard to counterfeit. Plastic notes can also contain holograms.

They are also more environmentally friendly as fewer need to be produced and they can be recycled.

However, they are considerably more expensive to produce and would create an initial cost as ATMs and vending machines would have to be adapted to accept them.

The Bank’s chief cashier Chris Salmon had already revealed it was investigating the possibility of polymer or plastic-coated banknotes.
‘Today I’m going to make some £20 notes out of this old plastic washing-up bottle’

It is understood that the Bank will initially introduce lower denominations, such as the fiver, which are in wider use so become dog-eared more rapidly.

De La Rue’s chief executive Tim Cobbold said: ‘If you think about the life of a banknote, it takes quite a hammering.

‘It’s being folded, it’s being crunched, it’s in and out of wallets and it could be in the wet or dry.’

But financial expert David Buik, of the retail and trading services firm Cantor Index, believes the conversion to plastic notes should not be rushed.

‘I think it’s something that needs to be more carefully thought out,’ he said.

‘Money laundering is a huge problem and if the security measures introduced could be used to make notes more traceable, then that would be very good.

‘But it needs to be applied internationally, the major countries all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet.’

A spokesman for the Bank of England said: ‘No definite decisions have been taken yet but the Bank is considering all options.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Paper 300 years? Try precious metals 3000 or more years. Barter possible more than 30,000 . . . Parallel currencies in PM used in the manner of barter should put an end to the plastic note b.s.. Make your own localised currency citizens! Stop ceding economic control to central national banks.

As the 13th General Elections draws near, UMNO has been showing signs of being increasingly insecure and uncertain about its future hold on power.

Being unable to counter our ideas and policies in a constructive way, it has instead launched a relentless campaign of hate and fear mongering. With the mainstream media at its complete disposal, UMNO is using every trick in the book to sow racial discord and instil fear among the people of the consequences that will befall them when Pakatan Rakyat comes to power.

Lies and May 13 scare-mongering

The just-concluded UMNO General Assembly provided yet another pretext to go on overdrive in this offensive of lies and intimidation led by Prime Minister and UMNO President Dato’ Seri Najib Razak. We condemn his reckless statement that Malaysia will lose its sovereignty in three years after Pakatan Rakyat takes over. The idea is sow the seeds of distrust among the people that Pakatan Rakyat leaders are traitors who will pawn the nation’s sovereignty for political power. Citing no facts nor providing any evidence, Najib’s scurrilous suggestion is therefore totally unfounded and can only be made by someone who has neither respect for the truth nor any sense of moral rectitude.

As a prelude to this loss of power scenario, delegates were also falling over each other in raising the spectre of a repeat of May 13th riots if Pakatan Rakyat comes to power. We understand that Wanita chief Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Jalil is trying to revive her political career having been forced to resign as minister by the multimillion ringgit NFC scandal. But to resort to such low hand tactics is inexcusable. To bring back the ghost of May 13th is to attempt to sow animosity among the races particularly between the Malays and the non-Malays and to spread fear among the people of violence and bloodshed if UMNO loses power. This is not only reckless but highly seditious and therefore criminal.

REAL THREAT

It is clear that Pakatan Rakyat has emerged as a real threat to the UMNO-Barisan Nasional hegemony and this has caused guns for hire to make blatant allegations about our leaders acting as proxies for foreign powers with me being singled out as proxy apparently for both the United States and China at the same time! While we may laugh away this non-sensical allegation, the fact is that with the nation-wide print and electronic media completely under its control, UMNO is spreading this lie with the intensity and ferocity that would make Goebbels proud. Employing the method of spreading ‘the big lie’ by constant repetition, the media attempts to paint a scenario of the country facing financial doom and under the control of foreign powers if Pakatan Rakyat takes over.

The UMNO media is also stoking the fire of communal and religious discord publishing the inflammatory racist statements of delegates. The fear mongering in this regard centres on making Muslims feel that Islam will be undermined if Pakatan Rakyat comes to power. According to UMNO, only they are the champions of Islam, not KEADILAN or even PAS. Thus, they spread the lie that apostasy cases will increase and that Malaysia may be turned into a Christian state if UMNO loses power.

Low caliber personal attacks

Najib’s keynote address in the UMNO General Assembly was full of vitriolic against Pakatan Rakyat and personal attacks against its leaders, me in particular in language totally un-befitting a statesman. Should the rakyat continue to bear with leadership of such caliber? What is the policy of the Umno president going forward for the nation? Where are the blue prints for the economy and social justice, for health care, housing and education? Najib must stop this campaign of lies and intimidation.

If he has valid issues with Pakatan Rakyat, then he should accept my invitation for a debate so that all Malaysians will be given the opportunity to see for themselves who is lying and who is telling the truth. Stop hiding behind the protective wall of your propaganda machinery and taking potshots at Pakatan Rakyat and me.

Man up to your position as Prime Minister and face me in the ring!

Anwar Ibrahim is the Leader of the Malaysian Opposition & PKR MP for Permatang Pauh

;to make the opposition disappear. If the opposition makes clear on the above as well though, Najib indeed will have a tough time and who knows be on that slippery Scorpene and Altantuya slope to political and social oblivion . . . as for Anwar, the Rakyat should know that ccording to some sources, only 8% of PKR members vioted for the current PKR Committee. This means that 92% of the PKR members which might not even want some people in the committee (the whole of Anwar’s family is in the committee btw – NEPOTISM) either were not given time to select the committee or were intentionally left out or worse still, did not care at all. On PKR’s part, no attempt was made to ensure that the members voted, possibly because if 92% of those left out voted, Anwar, family blocs and Anwar cliques in PKR might not even make it to the PKR committee which uses the undemocratic practice of CHOOSING who gets to run in what constituency. If no honest attempt is made to revote at at least 66.6% quorum, PKR might as well be deregistered as a political party or the ROS could penalise PKR for having a committee which was not voted at a 66.6% quorum as per democratic principles recognized worldwide. PKR is a very slipshod run political party. Man up and face in the ring? Tak a look at that 8% quorum backyard first . . . what are the 92% saying?

ARTICLE 2

Child marriages: Rethinking the issue — Art Harun – December 04, 2012

DEC 4 — Child marriage has somewhat become something of a phenomenon in Malaysia.

In a New Straits Times report dated June 13, 2010 (republished by asiaonenews), the following was published:

“….according to the 2000 Census, there were 11,400 children below 15 years of age who were married — 6,800 girls and 4,600 boys. Of the 6,800 girls, only 2,450 were Malay. This means that the syariah court gave its consent to each of these 2,450 underage girls to get married.

“The remainder of 4,350 girls were non-Malays comprising 1,550 other Bumiputeras, 1,600 Chinese, 600 Indians, and 600 others. It is not known whether they had got their licence from the relevant minister, but even if they did, it would have been illegal, since there are no legal provisions for a non-Muslim under 16 years to get married.”

The report added:

“Last year,(2009) 479 children under 15 years, two of them boys, were getting ready to tie the knot. And 32 of them were below 10 years. None of them were found to be HIV-positive.

“This is based on Health Ministry statistics of premarital HIV screening for Muslims, a compulsory requirement for those wanting to get married.

“However, it is not certain if any of these applications for marriage were approved by the state religious department.”

The legal age for marriage for non-Muslims in Malaysia is 18 years old. For Muslims, however, the legal age is 16 years old. However, in the case of Muslims in Malaysia, the syariah courts are empowered to allow marriages of children who are under 16 years of age.

There are alarming and disconcerting reports about child marriages in Malaysia. In early 2010, there were reports of two marriages involving 10- and 11-year-old girls married off to men in their 40s in Kelantan. The 11-year-old was later found in a state of shock. The syariah courts later ruled the marriages illegal. The ground for illegality however was not based on whether there was adequate consent from the children or on their respective age but was rather based on procedural non-compliance.

Child marriages, particularly among Muslims in Malaysia, although not a societal norm, are however a socially acceptable practice among a section of the society. Mass weddings involving children are, for instance, carried out. The state lends its approval and sanction either by publicising such weddings on the front page of its mainstream newspapers or by its leaders attending such weddings. In December 2010, for instance, a 14-year-old girl participated in such wedding by marrying a 23-year-old teacher. This was widely reported.

Recently, the syariah court granted permission to a father to marry off his 12-year-old daughter to a 19-year-old boy. In the application for permission, it was cited that the girl had run away to stay with her boyfriend and refused to come home. Marriage was, apparently, the only solution to solve the problem and to protect the family’s honour and reputation.

If only life was that simple.

Let’s consider what the laws of this country say about children under 18 or 16. They can’t enter into a binding contract save for those which affect their necessities. They can’t even buy tobacco products and alcohol. They can’t have a driving licence. They can’t watch movies of certain types without an adult accompanying them. They cannot be contractually employed. They surely can’t vote in a general election. They also cannot enter clubs. Generally, a boy or man can’t have sexual relationship with any girl of 16 or less even with her consent. That would be statutory rape.

Why is that? That is because the law assumes that a girl or any person, regardless of gender, of less than 18 year old (or 16 in the case of statutory rape) is not able to give free consent. For the uninitiated, free consent is a necessary element in a contract or in sexual acts in order to determine whether the acts constitute rape or otherwise.

Regardless of the above, strangely, sexual acts involving girls of 16 or less will be all right and completely legal if she is legally married! The law is indeed an ass!

If children under 18, or as the case may be 16 years of age, are presumed by law not to be able to give free consent to enter into a contract or to have sexual relationship — or to exercise proper judgment whether or not to buy tobacco products or alcohol — on what premise does the state legalise such sexual acts through a state-sanctioned marriage?

What is most unsatisfactory about the marriage of the 12-year-old is the blatant transfer and absolution of parental responsibilities by the parents and the courts to the 19-year-old groom as well as the 12-year-old bride. Reading the case, the first question which crept up in every reasonable person would be, “how can a 12-year-old girl have a boyfriend?” And “how can a 12-year-old run from home to be with her 19-year-old boyfriend?” Then, we would ask “what will happen to the 12-year-old after her marriage?” “How is she going to cope with all the responsibilities that come with a marriage?” “Can she be a good mother?” “Can the 19-year-old support his family?”

On July 19, 2012, Malaysia ratified the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child with the following reservations:

“The Government of Malaysia accepts the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child but expresses reservations with respect to articles 2, 7, 14, 28 paragraph 1 (a) and 37, of the Convention and declares that the said provisions shall be applicable only if they are in conformity with the Constitution, national laws and national policies of the Government of Malaysia.”

The Convention defines a child as “every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.”

Article 18 provides:

“States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child. Parents or, as the case may be, legal guardians, have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. The best interests of the child will be their basic concern.”

Article 19 provides:

“States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.”

In view of the aforesaid provisions, which we as a nation have chosen to accept without reservation, it is thus with a degree of perplexity that child marriages, even involving girls as young as 12, are taking place without nary a thought on the welfare of the child and the responsibilities of her parents.

Corrigendum

In “Secular on Non-secular — what history tells us”, I have reproduced a section of the Reid Commission report with a sentence unintentionally omitted. I wish to take responsibility and apologise for that omission. The particular section should read as follows (with the omitted part in bold):

“We have considered the question whether there should be any statement in the Constitution to the effect that Islam should be the State religion. There was universal agreement that if any such provision were inserted it must be made clear that it would not in any way affect the civil rights of non-Muslims. In the memorandum submitted by the Alliance it was stated — ‘the religion of Malaysia shall be Islam. The observance of this principle shall not impose any disability on non-Muslim nationals professing and practising their own religion and shall not imply that the State is not a secular State’.” — art-harun.blogspot.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Law is artificial and is not higher than the law governing 2 individuals in what they decide with each other. Sama suka sama (this is Malay for consensual and mutual) is more important than all of the above and can overrule the mere word of law being as aspect of law via spirit of law. A mob of hantu in British smocks (i.e. judges – being rhetorical here) have no right to pressure the young lovers who’s young tender minds doubtless will be impacted by the sheer pathos of society and the false ethos of Syariah or Civil court over emotions between 2 people. The statuary rape concept is nonsense so long as there was genuine love between any persons in any cases. And this is the law of ‘god’ or ‘nature’.

Much like sexuality, attraction is natural or god given, and a whole mob of adults in society should never have any say. As for finance etc.. the state can easily handle that instead of enriching politicians and cronies. The funds should go to allowing these very young couples to set up home etc.. As in normal adult cases, sometimes there will also be divorces, but divorce or even break ups is a mechanism of the environment and people around them influencing them. Without any external influence whatsoever, normal marriage ages should drop drastically which looks like that is what nature intended.

The issue is to ensure the instance education begins for a child that relationships especially life relationships like marriage are taught to them and even citing good yet very clear negative and positive examples of marriage and what entails so that a few months after your child can read and write they will know all the basics but yet also not be influenced. That is why we have PUBLIC EDUCATION, to ensure the insanity of the parent’s marital lives or society’s sexual taboos do not colour the children’s ability to be independent.

The use of the law as above is vicious and manipulative and needs amending.

PETALING JAYA, Dec 4 — The family of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was linked today to a company that supplies the controversial digital electricity meters to Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) alleged to have hiked up energy consumption bills and gained the national utility company billions of ringgit in profit.

According to PKR’s investment bureau chief Wong Chen, Noor Asiah Mahmood, who is the younger sister to Abdullah’s (picture) first wife, the late Tun Endon Mahmood, owns Ombata-Ambak Holdings Sdn Bhd, which has a 15 per cent share in Malaysian Intelligence Meters Sdn Bhd, the latter which is one of five companies contracted by TNB to supply the new digital meters.

Wong alleged that the programme to switch analogue power meters for digital ones had showed consumers would be contributing RM6.88 billion to TNB’s profit over the course of 10 years. The programme has been stopped temporarily on the orders of Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui since October.

“Our research shows TNB has 8.03 million consumers now and the average price for each meter is RM250, therefore this programme had the potential to reach RM2 billion.

“For the financial year 2012, TNB’s revenue from all consumers is RM34.4 billion, if the electronic meter had given a conservative raise of two per cent, the additional burden on consumers would be as much as RM688 million a year.

“Seeing as the life expectancy of this meter is only 10 years, consumers would ultimately have to pay as much as RM6.88 billion to TNB for that duration,” Wong told a news conference at the opposition party’s headquarters here.

PKR strategy director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who was also present, said the issue was not a small matter as consumers would have to pay up to 50 per cent of the cost of their power bills.

“Therefore, PKR urges TNB to be transparent and responsible in this matter to reveal who are the electronic meter suppliers, the price paid for the meters and whether it was competitively priced at local and international standards, and whether an open tender had been called or was it a direct negotiation?” Nik Nazmi asked.

The Seri Setia state lawmaker also called for TNB to fund an independent body to investigate consumer complaints on the new meters and to act on the findings that bind the utility company to consumers.

Last October, Chin said TNB had halted the replacement of analogue electricity meters with electronic meters until a standard operating procedure could be fixed.

He had made the decision after receiving public complaints saying power consumption had spiked after switching to the new digital meters, causing them to be also billed “retrospectively”.

“This operation will go on but our main task is to educate people on the new meter,” the minister had said then.

However, Chin had said replacing the analogue devices with the new meters would continue for households where the electricity meters were damaged or suspected to have been tampered with, resulting in losses.

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The B*!@#$%s had everything, society gave them all the power to help the nation, believed in their goodness, yet greed still could reach these spiritually weak willed and corrupted men :

i) political power in the (greedy?) bid for PM, cost perhaps B*!@#$%’s mother

Those who keep taking and never regarding those who help them, will never be have enough to pay from places where they have never and do not deserve to work, when time to collect comes. Some of us ‘work’ harder than most, some of the worst just take the efforts, and give away the nation’s treasures and harm the country despite everything. Only the deserving should be given high position – on a net tally, B*!@#$% has harned the nation and done less than what the lowliest street sweeper does for a living . . . and I won’t even get into KJ (and the 4th floor boys) as well . . . Forced Military Conscriptions btw were implemented during B*!@#$%s watch, this is the classic example of the smiling crocodile politician, very disappointing and hopefully not characteristic of the Malays as a race.

ARTICLE 4

GO ON LEAVE, Hisham told – Monday, 03 December 2012 16:06

Former inspector general of police Musa Hassan’s claim of interference by Home minister Hishamuddin Hussein in police affairs has been described as serious, and as such PAS Youth said the latter must go on leave pending a probe.

“Hishamuddin should be a gentleman and emulate Shahrizat (Abdul Jalil, Wanita UMNO head) who took leave following the National Feedlot Corporation scandal,” said PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan.

Musa last week dropped a bombshell ahead of the 66th UMNO general assembly accusing Hishamuddin of violating police protocols by giving instructions to junior police officers and a district police chief without his knowledge.

“So, I highlighted to him (Hishammuddin) Section 4 (1) of the Police Act (1967, which says) that the command and control of the police is by the IGP and not the minister. Of course, I cannot be rude to him as (he is) a minister. I talked to him nicely. He didn’t like it,” said Musa.

Hishamuddin sidestepped the allegation saying it was Musa’s ploy to divert attention from the UMNO meeting.

Musa however dismissed Hishamuddin’s claim as a personal opinion.

Nasrudin meanwhile called for the establishment of an independent commission to investigate Musa’s allegation.

He hoped the police would protect the people “based on law instead of protecting (a) political party by following its instruction blindly”.

-Harakahdaily

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Good. ‘Rule-of-law’ is taking out the political-bureaucracy as well. The judiciary should learn from Musa and take out the obvious among politicians who have harmed the nation – by Human Rights principles, an ex-Police Chief could by popular revolt overturn a government (presumably in Malaysia’s case to grant the below 3 items) as per the Human Rights Charter and Islamic principles of non-discrimination and non-disenfranchisement – to ah . . . ‘protect the minorities’ Human Rights‘ and ‘dignify properly practiced Islam‘ . . . ahem.

The international community is behind both police and judiciary if such actions were taken, and that makes Bar Council a farce for not acting before I posted this and several earlier comments. What happened in some of our lives really? Decades long audits of the system? Looks like the political bunch had better be serious in the future, in any case term limits as well. Perhaps the police could turn the tables on the REAL criminals of the country.

PAS should know that every ethical act they do is being cancelled by every Islamist action of abuse against especially non-Muslims PAS makes. PAS is not moving forward at all and confirms PAS’s use of ethics as an expedient (PAS seems to have no love or understanding of ethics and principles, but knows the value of using the same.) counter-apologist actions to balance Islamism, which is not what almost all Malaysians want. Perhaps PAS is not a political party and more a religious organisation that should go to Al Azhar at Cairo to learn about separation of faith and state.

Sultans know the difference even as Sultans themselves have most probably tacitly approved Malaysia’s other great flaw . . . the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA by not taking initiatives in starting a Royal commission to grant the above 3 items :

Keep selling out human rights principles and accepting inequality as normal, and in the end Kaveas will not deserve to be a HUMAN. (Hate to sound ‘spiritually racist’, but caste stature cannot be erased apparently even with all the wealth and stature in the temporal world that Kaveas has) to accept such status as 2nd class citizens is surely a sign of lower caste ancestry . . . only equality is acceptble . . . ) Traitor to the UN and traitor to the idea of equality and ‘The Enlightenment’ which would never accept the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA.

KUALA LUMPUR- DAP chairman Karpal Singh is deeply touched by the apology made by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to him on Thursday, the last day of the August house sitting.

Karpal who is Bukit Gelugor Member of Parliament said this in a statement here today.

In reciprocal, he also asked for forgiveness for the many transgression in which an apology was due from him to Pandikar Amin.

On Thursday, Pandikar Amin apologised to Karpal over his spontaneous remarks that the MP might have been suffering from pain for not raising his hand when taking oath as an MP.

The incident happened at the beginning of the 12th parliament session on April 28, 2008 and Pandikar Amin in his apology said that he only found out later that Karpal could not raise his hand.

Pandikar Amin also said the remarks was made when he was still new and had no intention to hurt anyone and he would feel bad if he did not apologise to Karpal.

— BERNAMA

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Whats ‘touching’ (being sarcastic here) is that Karpal’s physical pain is more important than the meaning of the MP’s post, and the fact that Pandikar Amin is effectively on the side of those that will not grant :

A$$ hurting? Aww poor baby. Remember we still live under apartheid and not be swayed by sweet nothings . . . Karpal is getting old and weak no? Replacement time . . . No need to ‘sayang’ whatever injuries . . . the best apology would be to END APARTHEID and a timely snap back along these lines from Karpal would have been better for the Rakyat than this maudlin sentimentality. Term limitless, nepotistic colluding MPs on BN and Pakatan sides who care more about this sort of sandiwara are the worst kind of politician. Politicians are disposable, get in there for your 1 term and 23K x 4 years of salaries (thats near 1 million btw), amend some laws and get out, we don’t need this sort of old friends among term limitless dictators and nepotists pathos to muddy the voter’s minds with regards the above 3 items.

Najib asked voters to give BN more time to execute the changes it has planned for the country. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 ? Again calling for change in Barisan Nasional (BN), Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today voters are choosing Pakatan Rakyat (PR) because they want to send a message to the ruling coalition.

“The message is for us to change as a party,” the BN chairman said while launching the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) annual general meeting (AGM) here.

“They want BN as a party to be more fair, inclusive, and so that every citizen of Malaysia will receive equal treatment and benefits from BN.”

The prime minister’s remarks came after PPP president Datuk Seri M. Kayveas’s address, in which the latter said voters are flocking to PR because they are “worried” by perceived discrimination and prejudice under BN’s rule.

Fresh from closing Umno’s annual assembly here yesterday, Najib again called on voters to give BN more time to renew itself by supporting it in the polls.

“We’re in the process of renewal. Real changes are taking place in Malaysia.

“Real changes are taking place while the same party is in power in Malaysia,” the Umno president said.

Najib also criticised the “Ubah” (change) slogan touted by DAP and PR, comparing their call for change to the recent “Arab Spring” revolution.

“If we change, are we sure we’re getting something better?

“(The people involved in Arab Spring) are not enjoying the ‘spring weather’. They’re still in the winter of discontent,” Najib said.

The prime minister said that the revolutions in the Middle East had caused the countries involved to lose out on tourism and currency exchange, as well as suffer declines to their security.

But Najib also confessed that winning the next general election will not be easy, saying that voters’ opinions were now easily swayed by current issues.

“Before this, we can just put a songkok (to contest) and we would still win.

“Now we need to read the desires of the public, understand the wishes of the people.”

Najib then appeared to criticise grassroots leaders for failing to disseminate the aspirations of the BN administration effectively, leading to problems with perceived discrimination and prejudice.

“The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground.

“These people must try to understand what the government wants. If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system … must do that,” Najib added to applause from the floor.

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Najib then appeared to criticise grassroots leaders for failing to disseminate the aspirations of the BN administration effectively, leading to problems with perceived discrimination and prejudice. The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground.

“These people must try to understand what the government wants. If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system … must do that,” Najib added to applause from the floor.

Politics should be about bettering civilian lives regardless of faith or ethnicity via honesty, and civilisational Islam (or any other religion), is not about crony laws and racial privileges. As mentioned elsewhere, were a screen applied to ensure meritocracy (to mask race), a translation machine (to mask language), and a voice modulator and distortion screen (to mask gender) applied at a job interview, we’d be surprised at the choices we make based on POLICY rather than race or religion.

Then the concept of NATION would be real. Right now the ‘needs basis’ is based around wrong things like religion and race or even gender ‘quotas’, which is very backward and insulting to the host race the Malays, disenfranchises the minorities, and men in general wherever quotas for women occur. Let the best people lead irrespective of faith gender or ethnicity, and let them be limited in terms AND chosen with the above tech applied so that the above racial or gender or religious cues will not affect choices. A first world ‘Meritocracy’ of logic and ability (as opposed to mob minded and pathos based DEMOCRACY of majority where the minority loses the rights to majority much like Morsi described – why can’t ALL RIGHTS be included in that sickening draft resolution that favours Islam so much?!? Egypt is NOT Islamist-Arabist, Egypt is Polytheistic AND uses Hieratic . . . Egyptians INVENTED BEER and also ate pork, Egypt was not Islamic UNTIL the Arabs militarily subjugated and conquered the Egyptians and destroyed and forbade Egyptian culture . . . ) must include :

If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system BN must ensure the above 3 items with that mandate BN already has. If BN does not grant the above 3 items, there is no point giving that mandate to BN again in GE13. BN can make the choice to as PM Najib said, ‘. . . treat every citizen equally . . .’.

DEC 1 — The recently announced National Education Blueprint contains nothing new. And it shows the powers-that-be have no real intention to listen to the public or make any bold reforms to our ailing education system.

It is a repetition of the sad old story about racial prejudice, not much different from the so-called “National” Education Policy which was largely based on Umno’s Malay nationalist belief that the national language should be the sole medium of instruction.

Proponents of the Malay-medium-only policy also emphasise the Malay nationalist perspective of history that having one common language — such as in our neighbours Indonesia and Thailand — can save Malaysia from disintegration.

Racial prejudice and political demagoguery as the basis for our nation’s education agenda of true unity will not get us far. Let me prove how discriminatory is our education system and the false impressions that it projects.

How my friend succeeded in the US

I had a taste of victory for what it means to have “equal opportunities” in education about 30 years ago when I argued for admission, on behalf of a schoolmate, into an American university which has produced some Nobel laureates.

My friend was originally from Taiwan but studied in a Chinese independent secondary school in Malaysia. She did not sit for the SPM or UEC. To my surprise, the admission officer of the American university requested for UEC results in lieu of SPM qualifications.

She did not sit the UEC because the exam was still new at that time. After a long discussion, the admission officer agreed with my proposal that she be admitted conditionally on producing evidence of completing 12 years of primary and secondary education — a standard which almost all American universities and colleges go by.

She was then admitted “under probation” for one semester, meaning she would be considered a regular student after the period of study with a GPA of 2.0 and above (an average of C and above). She graduated eventually without any impediment.

Her experience goes to show how democratic, liberal and flexible the American education system is. This is one of the key factors that allow the United States to become the most technologically advanced country, and one to which many talents from other parts of the world choose to emigrate.

The value of the UEC

In the 1970s, nobody in Malaysia took the UEC exams seriously except for the powers-that-be which attempted to ban it on account that the exam was (perceived to be) “anti-national”.

Nonetheless besides Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore where the UEC was recognised, many American universities and colleges had already begun accepting it as a gateway for college admission. As far back as exactly 30 years ago, one of my classmates was admitted to the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology based on her UEC results and Chinese independent school coursework assessments.

Would our public universities and UiTM open its admission policies and welcome UEC holders by integrating them into the mainstream higher education institutes rather than discriminating them? Some top American universities even admit Chinese independent secondary school students based on school results and class ranking without referring to standardised examinations such as SPM, UEC, GCE, SAT and the like.

Yet after 30 long years, our own Malaysian government still despises the UEC as “anti-national”. In fact, except for respective language subjects, all UEC subjects are offered in three languages, in other words, one can opt to have his maths, science or other papers tested in English, Malay or Chinese.

Chinese independent school graduates are barred from using their UEC results as a means of admission to local public universities and teacher training colleges. This discrimination is deemed necessary to maintain Umno’s self-righteous “National Education Policy” for the promotion of “interracial unity”.

How can political demagoguery such as Umno’s ever help in promoting national unity and interracial integration? One could argue that the party is actually more interested in maintaining its tight grip on power by continuing to mislead the country that vernacular schools somehow pose a hidden threat.

STPM and matriculation — apple and orange?

The powers-that-be have since declared that racial quotas are no longer applied in local public universities. Instead, they claim a “merit-based” admission system has been put in place.

However, at the same time, university admission standards are “diversified” into two separate entry points — STPM and matriculation.

After years of protests by the non-Malays, only 10 per cent of matriculation programmes has been opened up to the non-Bumiputeras, and even this percentage is described by the Malay nationalists as a “sell-out” of Malay rights.

Non-Malays are supposed to be grateful for this small “kindness”, like once upon a time coloureds were supposed to thank their white masters for allowing them to go to schools in apartheid South Africa despite great disparities along racial lines in school facilities.

Almost all the non-Malays who managed to gain a seat in local public universities are students who sat the STPM. Many rue this blatant division of university entrance assessment — de facto along racial lines — as comparing apples and oranges.

Satu Sekolah’s inherent contradiction

The authorities contradict themselves by professing a single-language system to promote national unity through putting children under one roof but at the same time segregating them either at Form 1 or when they finish Form 5.

There is an obvious discrepancy between the teaching facilities provided to the vernacular schools which sorely lack government aid and support and the residential schools and Mara junior science colleges as well as the elite schools catering for Malays — e.g. the prestigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) and Tunku Kurshiah College (TKC).

Institutional racism practised in public university admission routes gives rise to an added dimension of polarisation. The racial distribution of students is further exacerbated when non-Malays, erroneously seen as well-to-do, are enrolled in private higher institutions of learning. Most people seem to forget that privately funded education, whether locally or abroad, comes at a heavy cost to their parents.

The indirect makings of apartheid

To generalise most Malays as “poor” and all non-Bumis, particularly the Chinese, as “rich” is just as good as apartheid.

The Malay ultras believe they are above being associated with the apartheid system in South Africa created with the ostensible excuse of helping the “poor”, Dutch-speaking whites of that country.

But then what should the international community make of UiTM — Malaysia’s biggest public university with campuses in every state — where almost all its students belong predominantly to a single race?

In the former apartheid of South Africa and during the 1950s in the Confederate states of the American south, physical segregation was made visible by the sign saying “No Coloured and Dogs allowed”.

In Malaysia, there are no signs to say “No Non-Bumis and Dogs allowed”. However, de facto apartheid still permeates through the fabric of the Malaysian public education system. It is de facto racial segregation in its utmost hypocritical disguise without leaving any physical evidence.

Therefore, I see no difference between those poor whites in the former Confederate states of the American south that once held demonstrations against university admission of black students and those Malay ultras that hold demonstrations barring “non-Bumiputeras” from entering local public institutions.

UiTM students did after all demonstrate against their university opening its door a crack when Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim proposed relaxing the admission just a tiny bit to the so-called “non-Bumis”.

America’s highest court ruled for equality

In Brown vs Board of Education (1954), the US Supreme Court unanimously decided that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”.

It stinks of double standards if not a glaring blind spot when vernacular schools keep getting blamed for institutional racism in Malaysia. If mother-tongue vernacular schools (open to all students) are incorrectly termed as racist, then the one-race UiTM is nothing but apartheid.

The old, presumed poverty line along the race divide is no longer valid, not when Malaysia has endured discriminative policies predicated on ethnicity since 1970, which is all of 42 years or almost half a century.

There are very few Malay intellectuals willing to tackle the truth of the matter but Dr Azly Rahman is one of them. At least he’s been honest and bold enough to speak out on the “bankrupt Umno ideology” of race supremacy in his article “Dismantle Our Apartheid Education”.

What is required is for more members of the Malay intelligentsia to question the veracity of a “moral” claim in the perpetuation of a quota system that amounts to apartheid. The only difference is that segregation, like that perpetuated by residential schools, Mara junior colleges and UiTM, is couched using terminology portraying a righteous morality.

The other difference is that Chinese schools are accessible to any non-Chinese but UiTM does not welcome the non-Malays. In some Chinese independent secondary schools, non-Chinese are given a blanket free tuition.

Are Malays courageous to re-evaluate?

The Malays are a strong majority in numbers and without doubt politically dominant. Why should Umno cling tenaciously to the view that preferential treatment based on race is the “affirmative action” that Malays still require?

Professor Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi in “Memories of Unity” vividly describes his confidence to compete in his science class and how he emerged one of the top students among his almost all Chinese classmates back in the 1970s.

I had a Malay classmate who went to the same Chinese independent school as I did. He graduated as one of the top students and went to a local public university, and he is currently a lecturer at another local public university.

It is a myth that Bumi students are unable to compete with non-Bumi students on a level playing field. This misconception is wrongly used to justify the institutional racism imposed on the public education from top to bottom.

There are tens of thousands of Malays who have made it in local and prestigious foreign universities and thrived in adverse sociocultural settings. There is no moral justification for segregating Malaysian post-secondary students into STPM/ matriculation except for satisfying Umno’s racial imperatives.

NEP and education apartheid

A few successful Malay billionaire cronies do not mitigate the failure with regard to certain protectionist areas of the NEP. This includes educational apartheid. The rejuvenation of the vernacular schools since the late 1970s when NEP went into full swing is a consequence of our race policies, and not the chief cause of racism.

The NEP was based upon the empirical generalisation that Chinese and Indian Malaysians were all well off and should be “positively discriminated” against in order to help the “poor Malays”.

It’s a different story today as the civil service has become Malay dominated and this is empirical truth. The tables have been turned as Malaysians of Chinese and Indian descent are marginalised.

The original purpose of the NEP to eradicate the identification of race with profession — Malay farmer, Chinese shopkeeper, Indian clerk — is sidetracked when the civil service has become wholly identified with the Malay race. The racial traits along professions, as reflected in the hiring practices of both the private and public sectors, have been deepened by the NEP.

When I recently requested some documents to be certified by a government department, the Malay clerk gave me a jealous one-eye wink knowing that it was for the purpose of applying to colleges in the US. The one-eye wink might perhaps have been nothing more than the coded message that all you “Chinamen” are rich and can afford to send your children overseas to be educated. This only goes to show up the failure of the NEP in correcting the racial prejudice among races in Malaysia.

How the Chinese prioritise education

The fact is that I told my children I would sell our house and live in a smaller one if we needed funds for their education. I mean education is where they would learn something new and be happy including getting away from institutional racism. We neither hope for JPA or any other government scholarships after hearing so many sad stories of racial degradation.

Selling homes and other property for the sake of children’s education among the lower and middle-class Chinese Malaysians is not a new practice. I remember my mother decided to sell off the six-acre rubber plantation left by my deceased father to put me and my sister through university.

She later worked as a babysitter to cover all our expenses studying overseas. We always thought that there might be more Malays who did not have land to sell. Nonetheless, our good reasoning has not helped many Malays to get rid of their own ingrained racial prejudice both against themselves and other races.

As I write this article, coincidentally, my 17-year-old daughter has just received news that a high-ranking American university has agreed to admit her into their Fine Arts programme based on her multiple talents, multilingual skills and ability to play the Chinese zither and flute. Some universities already made it clear, admitting her by waiving the requirement of her SPM or UEC results.

On the contrary, her talent in playing ancient Chinese musical instruments is definitely not a criterion for admission into any local public university. On the contrary, it may even work against her favour as it could be looked at as a form of Chinese chauvinism and clinging to our ancestral roots.

Deserving of places in local universities

I am not trying to boast about my daughter’s academic achievement. She is actually a B-average student but it sure makes a parent proud when one’s child deservedly gains recognition for her talents, and more importantly she will be able to further develop her talents without being labelled as a non-Bumi.

I am glad that her dedication to social work and extracurricular activities, including organising a joint concert of Chinese orchestra and western bands, won her recognition from some highly ranked American universities.

One of her recent achievements is receiving a gold medal in an international Chinese essay-writing contest in Taiwan. Instead of chucking her unique credential aside, an American university admission director gave great words of encouragement, such as “your family must be very proud of you (for the gold medal received) …We would like you to be with us, and I hope you will continue to contribute to the international programme here if you decide to join us”.

I was surprised that she was offered admission and given a partial academic scholarship before we even sent out applications to other American colleges and local private universities.

Some universities are amazed that our students can master two or three languages. They usually give positive encouragement like: “Considering English is your third language, your English is really good.” No parents will send their kid to a college where he or she faces the possibility of being humiliated and degraded on account of race, creed and “non-native status” when my daughter is actually a native-born fourth-generation Malaysian.

As a matter of fact, most UEC holders have a greater proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia, which is their second language, compared to English, which is their third language. If the UEC holders can do well in universities overseas that teach in English, why can’t they be given the same opportunities by our local public universities?

It might be true that their Bahasa Malaysia may not be as good compared with SPM/STPM holders just as their English may not be as good as the Americans, British or Australians when they enrol in American, Australian or British universities. However if they are given the opportunity to enrol in local public universities, they will be able to polish their BM just like how when given the opportunity to study abroad they are able to polish their English.

More importantly, such openness is needed in order to “converge” the vernacular school alumni into the local higher education institutions and complete an education integration process than forcibly “diverge” them to local private institutions and overseas colleges.

We have to be fair and realistic in assessing our students’ language ability based on what is the best they can do in their learning environment. In fact, cultural immersion is the best method to improve Malay language or any other second language proficiency instead of educational segregation like what has been practiced here.

Some 30 years ago, it was rare to encounter Americans learning an Asian language. Today there are American reporters who insist on interviewing me in perfect Mandarin or Bahasa Indonesia. It is a fast-changing world out there but it seems our Umno elites — with the exception of Najib Razak whose son is a fluent Mandarin speaker — are lagging behind time.

The very first step for the Malay ultras to take in the right direction is to cease making a scapegoat out of Chinese and Tamil primary schools. It is an unfounded charge that little children are responsible for racism and racial disunity in Malaysia.

It is, on the other hand, our fear to embrace cultural diversity and true interracial integration that has left us lagging behind many other countries. It is time for the Malay ultras to open their eyes and correct their ingrained prejudice that has worked against their own competitiveness. — CPI Asia

* This article was originally published by CPI Asia.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

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Is interracial integration more possible under convergence or divergence? — Boo Cheng Hau

How about stopping with the inculpation of hegelian dialectic Orwell state b.s. and understanding that EITHER / OR in this issue should be replaced with :

;and all groups will fall into the new line of EQUALITY. Without equality, there will be no integration much less INTERRACIAL integration.

. . . The very first step for the Malay ultras to take in the right direction is to cease making a scapegoat out of Chinese and Tamil primary schools. It is an unfounded charge that little children are responsible for racism and racial disunity in Malaysia. . . .

That is NOT a first step, that is LIP SERVICE because not scapegoating does not mean policy which scapegoats minority changes, a REAL furst step is granting the above 3 items and if the scapegoating continues at that point the policy of equality would easily overtake scapegoating which will just be bad form that Malaysians will not even care about that will mark the politican as a bad citizen instead. ctual policy is more important than what politicnas say to occupy the people. Looks like BN’s propagandists have exposed BN’s intentions – never to grant the above 3 items. If 3rd force doesn’t make GE13 in time, 3rd force had better be prepared for GE14 where the threat of NEPOTISM and LIMITLESS TERMS, and STATE COLLUSION in GLC and crony contractors in Pakatan Rakyat will be the greatest threat EVEN as the above 3 items are not even granted by Pakatan’s discussions so far. End the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA and give freedom of religion to the Malays. Going apostate in Islam IS NOT PUNISHABLE and should not mean Bumi Privileges will be withdrawn from the Malays even as these same rights should be the rights of ALL Malaysians regardless of faith or ethnicity but rather economic status ONLY. Ask the Al-Azhar Islamic University if apostasy was punishable in the prophet’s time or liable for ‘Islamic Re-education’ to keep followers, Malaysian Syariah laws on apostasy are all ILLEGAL in Islamic jurisprudence!

PETALING JAYA – Former inspector-general of police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hassan (pix) has called on the police and Home Ministry to publicly disclose all crime statistics so as to not confuse people about the actual crime situation in the country.

“The police should disclose all statistics as the people would like to know why there are street crimes around when the NKRA (National Key Results Area) showed that the crime is dropping.

“We do not say that they (government) are manipulating the statistics but the people might be confused if they don’t reveal all the reports,” he told a press conference here today.

Expressing his backing for the Malaysian Crime Watch Group (MyWatch), a non-governmental organisation which aims to educate and increase awareness on the preparation and prevention of crime, he said a public awareness campaign is important in helping the government and police combat crime at the grassroots level.

Musa claimed that the police now not only heed the IGP but also have to report to government servants outside the force.

He said the police should remain apolitical and not let any political influences seep into the force.

“I’m not hitting at the government. Nobody called me personally (to discuss) and there’s nothing on the paper (reporting change). I want to see police force improved. I don’t want things to be politicised because the police force needs to be improved for the sake of the people,” he said.

“If you want proof, you have to read it in the (news)papers, there are enough proof (of government interference). Now even the police are confused when the chief secretary of the KDN (Home Ministry) directs the police and the police complain to me.

“Perception comes from a real person’s action. So it (interference) is real,” he added.

-thesundaily

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Arrest all corrupt politicians (guess who was the MOST CORRUPT . . . ) in some Ops not amounting to a police coup. The Dewan should be emptied by the next session and most of the corrupted MPs and Assemblymen should yield a nice fat purse for Malaysia with those frozen accounts’ monies. What say you independent among judiciary and good cops? The international community and goodly among our top institutions and citizens would applaud. Perhaps a stint as interim PM as well since most of DAP are too nepotistic and Mubarak-like to qualify for the Pm’s post? Heck, pull together a few generals and consult Susilo (not for a ‘ganyang’ of Malaysia but a precise ‘ganyng’ of Malaysia’s WORST citizens . . . most Malaysians wouldn’t miss corrupted politicians and racists anyway.

KUALA LUMPUR- “Rosmah Mansor”, a book which chronicles the life of the prime minister’s wife, was launched today by the Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah.

Yayasan Amanah Perdana Malaysia chairman Shamsulbahrin Ludin, the book’s publisher, said the new biography will allow readers a well-rounded glimpse into Rosmah’s life from her childhood to the present.

“Some of the facts presented in this book have never been told to anyone before.”

Its highlights, he said, include her marriage to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak – in particular, the challenges she faced first as the wife of a cabinet minister, deputy prime minister and now the country’s leader.

Written in an informal and relaxed tone, the book features stories from her school days at Tunku Kursiah College, Negeri Sembilan, and includes interviews with her closest friends.

“Many would want to know what life was like when she was a child, in primary and secondary schools.

“In addition to her life in campus and in the workforce, her life at the TKC was filled with interesting events which will certainly draw special attention,” Shamsulbahrin said.

The book also includes a special chapter in which Rosmah addresses the public rumours surrounding her life, whether regarding her family or her involvement in current events.

“Most importantly, we expect this book to provide answers in response to slanderous comments leveled at (Rosmah).

“In other words, it is a small effort by us to show her best attribute, that is her humility, through this book,” Shamsulbahrin said.

The 164-page biography also details her involvement in community work, especially her efforts to develop the Permata Negara programme, her engagement with non-government organisations as well as her participation in Bakti and in various international programmes.

It also showcases a collection of old and recent photographs.

The book’s soft launch was held as part of Rosmah’s birthday celebration, which included performances by singer Misha Omar and students from the Permata Seni programme.

Present at the ceremony were the Royal Consort of Pahang Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom, Najib and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Ahmad Maslan.

-NST.COM

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Names which turn out especially bad in another language might be the cause of some of the antipathy between races. Won’t mention which but those who know English and Hokkien dialect should easily figure which one . . .

ARTICLE 11

HOW TO BE NEUTRAL? EC officers have right to join political parties – chief – Monday, 10 December 2012 17:11

KUALA LUMPUR— Election Commission (EC) officers are within their democratic right to join political parties but they must not be partisan in carrying out their duties, says its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

The EC chairman disclosed this when responding to accusations by PAS that a senior EC officer in Sabah was holding a key post in the Kinabatangan Umno Youth chapter. The EC’s impartiality has been continuously questioned by the opposition and activists over the past years.

“There is nothing wring for any EC officer to join political parties. It doesn’t matter if they are in PAS, PKR or Umno.

“It is their democratic right,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted over the issue.

But Abdul Aziz said that EC officials should not side with any parties or abuse their powers when carrying out their duties.

He also stressed that the EC welcomed reports from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) if the commission officials abused their powers, saying the opposition parties should lodge complaints and provide proof of wrongdoing.

“If there is proof to show the officer is in the wrong, please submit the proof. If possible, give the name, position and pictures.

“We will investigate without favour no matter who the officer is,” Abdul Aziz said.

The former top civil servant agreed that EC officials who are in political parties should not mix their duties with political ideology, saying it went against the work ethics of those in government service.

The EC chairman pointed out there were no regulations or laws that prevent government officials from joining political parties, except that those active in politics must apply for permission from the Public Service Department (PSD).

Sabah PAS Youth chief Lahirul Latigu had asked the EC to explain how its officials can hold posts in political parties, saying the silence would affect the commission’s credibility to ensure the democratic process is carried out in the country.

“If the EC still chooses to keep silent on this issue, PAS Youth will not hesitate to expose details about the officer who is in politics,” he had said.

Reports of EC officers holding posts in Umno have surfaced over the years, including allegations that Abdul Aziz and his deputy, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, are members of the ruling party.

Following such reports against the top two EC officials last May, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz denied that Abdul Aziz was an Umno member as alleged by PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He disclosed that Abdul Aziz had registered as an Umno member more than 30 years ago in the Ampang Umno division but had since left the party.

“The EC chairman has already clarified that he isn’t an Umno member. He has also made sure about it,” Nazri had said.

-The Malaysian Insider

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Simple. Make laws that disallow EC officers from joining political parties.

The EC postholders and salaries jobs must ALL be people with no political party memberships, no business links to any politicians or even with businesses WITH links to politicians (the more distant the better and should be the criteria for EC posts). We can’t have family blocs like in the Pakatan family nepotism party. This way VESTED INTEREST can be avoided. So anyone who fulfil the above criteria ready to offer themselves for 1 term jobs? This will ensure Malaysia is a clean country. The ROS (Registry of Socities), MACC (Acnti-Corruption Agency), PAC (Public Accounts Committee) and Bar Council btw, should also be staffed in a similar manner.

We have three kids and have been married for five years, so we’re well out of the honeymoon period.

We’re both in our mid-30s and have been together since we were teenagers.

I really thought as men got older their sex drive declined, but it’s the opposite with my hubby!

Basically, if he had his way we’d be at it three times a day, every day.

I thought he might be insecure so I talked to him about it, but it turns out he just loves sex!

I love him to pieces, but I can’t keep up!

I’ve tried telling him all this, but the words “No, love, not tonight” just don’t register with him.

Help me!

Coleen says..

First the good news: it’s better to work out a compromise from this position than be in the situation where you’re having no sex.

It’s really fantastic that he still desires you so much after all those years together – for a lot of couples it’d be the other way round – but it’s only great if it’s what you both want.

Right now you’re feeling under pressure, but it’s a delicate situation and you don’t want to put him off ­altogether or embarrass him.

Tell him how much you love him and fancy him, but that physically you cannot have sex that often and you don’t want to either.

The most successful relationships are the ones where both parties can compromise and that’s what he’s going to have to do now. And you’ll have to do the same.

But don’t let it become a massive issue that affects your otherwise great relationship.

-mirror.co.uk

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A second wife should do the trick. that is why polygamy exists. This article hosts a gay NLP btw – a woman does not need to ‘keep it up’, the writer if female, has penis envy or wants to be a man, otherwise is subversive of men hoping men become gay. Reading too many NLPs of this sort results in gayness, not that gayness per se is bad, but CONTRIVED gayness resulting ftom, NLPs IS bad . . . Malaysian Chronicle should not abuse their readers like this.

ARTICLE 13

BE WARNED DR M & POLITICIANS LIKE SHAHRIZAT: The next May 13 will be very different from 1969 – by Victor Lim – Monday, 10 December 2012 12:08

YES. I couldn’t agree more with Koon Yew Yin (see story reproduced below), a respected Chinese community senior citizen.

I wish to add two very pertinent points which Mr Koon and I overlooked.

Point No.1: The majority of Malays, I believe some 90% of them, don’t pay taxes to the federal government.

They pay what is known as zakat (tithes), a form of Islamic tax.

This means Malaysia has been developed for the past 55 years with contributions from the non-Malays or non-Muslims and the corporate sector.

Therefore, if the business climate is ruined by the super corrupt, evil and racist Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) because it wants to remain in power at all costs, including the propagation of the May 13 violence and bloodshed, who will suffer more? Who is the majority race in Malaysia?

The cousins … the real danger Malaysians’ face

Point No.2: However, should violence really break out after BN-Umno loses the next general election, it will not be the same May 13, 1969.

In 1969, the majority of Malays were really living in abject poverty. They were envious of others who were better off economically.

Today, it is an entirely different scenario. That was the 20th century. We are now in the 21st century.

The Malays today are more informed and are therefore able to make wiser judgments politically.

Unlike 1969, the issues today are not about race. Only BN-Umno, for reasons only known to them, stubbornly refuses to change with the times to remain relevant with the rakyat (people).

Politically Bankrupt

All BN-Umno can focus on is its divide-and-rule archaic political strategy to remain in power at all costs.

BN-Umno uses money and its blind-loyalty supporters to stir emotions and violence at Opposition ceramah (political rallies) or to disrupt peaceful public protests.

BN is just unable to think out of the box and is obviously unable to react rationally after the March 8, 2008 political tsunami shock which saw BN losing its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament and five states.

Blinded by corruption

Over the past four years, as the BN continued to try to impose their brute political might and power on the people with the aim of intimidating the rakyat into submission and subservience, the peoples’ political restlessness grew enormously.

Now, at its own doing, the BN is living in fear of losing its mandate to govern after the 13th General Election. The dissolution of the 222-seat Parliament is automatic on April 28, 2013.

BN has only itself to blame for failing to use the four years to implement reforms that would endear the rakyat and win back their hearts and minds after March 2008.

It refuses to see the rakyat’s demands for justice and clean socio-economic development policies – not continuing with its culture of enriching its families and cronies.

They are the poorest in Malaysia, so the BN-Umno federal government needs to give all the multi-billion ringgit projects to them.

Where has our natural wealth GONE?

It refuses to discard its race and religious political cards for more practical and reforming policies to fast track the progress and prosperity of Malaysians and Malaysia.

Yes! The people are asking: “Where have all the trillions of ringgit in natural resources, including oil and gas, gone?”

Is it also too much to ask the BN government to account for it’s more than RM800 billion federal debt? This, the BN has remained mum.

No wonder, the Opposition is gaining ground

The Opposition PR’s nationwide political rallies are seeing bigger and bigger crowds by the day and the audience comprises all races.

They break into rounds and rounds of thundering applause whenever Parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim touches on issues related to the need to do away with non-race based policies in governance to stimulate and fast track Malaysia’s healthy socio-economic growth.

They break into rounds and rounds of applause whenever Anwar explains and proposes people-centric fiscal measures aimed at reducing the financial burden of the people in a fast rising cost of living environment.

Anwar also stresses on the need to provide a higher standard of education for Malaysians, not race, as the impetus for economic and technological excellence. This, he has proposed free education for all, from primary level to tertiary education.

If BN-Umno really resorts to the use of violence when it loses the next general election, it will be the minority Umno Malays fighting with the PKR-PAS Malays backed by the Chinese and Indian communities.

My dear fellow rakyat, it will be very much unlike May 13, 1969.

Friday, 07 December 2012 23:58

If there is another May 13 riot, the MALAYS WILL BE THE BIGGEST LOSERS

Written by Koon Yew Yin

If there is another May 13 riot, the MALAYS WILL BE THE BIGGEST LOSERS

As the countdown to the general election begins in earnest, we are getting more and more calls from desperate and irresponsible politicians drawing attention to the possibility of a repeat of the infamous May 13 violence if the election results should go against the expectations of various political parties and interests.

The fact that these calls are directed towards the Bumiputera component of our population, are expressed in the national language, and are widely carried in the Malay mass media and Internet world makes me suspicious of the intentions of these politicians who claim that they are simply doing Malaysians a favour by warning of the backlash should the election outcome not bring about a continuation of the present power structure.

To my mind, these politicians are not only applying crude pressure on the Malay electorate to vote for them but they are also blatantly revealing their trump card – that violence, chaos and political instability will automatically erupt in the event that the opposition parties win the elections.

This blackmailing of our electorate as well as incitement of disruptive and hooligan elements in our society is totally unacceptable. Various academicians and politicians from the opposition have spoken up against such fear mongering in the recent past. However, not enough has been done by members of the business community and other professional organizations to speak out against these warnings and threats although they will be the main losers should another May 13 episode take place.

Much more needs to be done by key stakeholders to condemn the individuals and organizations making the threats as the risk of these threats becoming self-fulfilling prophesies increases by the day.

Shahrizat’s not-so-veiled threat

The latest invocation of May 13 took place at the Umno general assembly held recently. In that meeting, the Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil warned that the May 13 tragedy might be repeated should Umno became weak and not be able to overcome its challenges. That this warning was not made obliquely but was served up as part of her opening speech text testifies to the way in which this kind of desperado thinking has become the mainstream in certain political circles.

What is more worrying is that both Najib Razak and Muhyiddin Yassin as Umno president and deputy president, and more importantly as the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, failed to repudiate or rebuke Sharizat for fear mongering. Instead the Deputy Prime Minister attempted to defend the speech by explaining that chaos will be inevitable under Pakatan Rakyat rule.

Other Umno leaders, notably its vice-president Hishamuddin Hussein have even gone so far as to dismiss the attention brought by Shahrizat’s May 13 statement as a case of “spinning” and to put the blame on a pro-opposition media and other opposition elements.

“Shahrizat has already told me that this will be another matter that will be used for spinning by certain quarters, just because it coincides with the general assembly”, the country’s minister in charge of internal security is reported to have said in his dismissal of public concern when questioned about it.

Even if it is a case of over-reaction by the media and a fearful public, it is hoped that Shahrizat and her colleagues will not play with fire or pander to the psyche of insecurity found in Umno party members by constantly harping on the possible recurrence of 13 May and even worst, by condoning or justifying violent and catastrophic racial riots as they appear to be doing in the run-up to the elections.

Aftershocks of electoral violence

Should there be bloodshed and violence arising from the next elections, it will not be non-Malays primarily who will lose out or be hurt by the collapse of the share market and the larger economy as we see a rush to exit the country by local and foreign businesses and investors. It will be all Malaysians especially those who are now enjoying the good life.

Malays must bear in mind that while in 1969 they may have had less to lose, today the situation is completely different. There is Malay control of a major part of the commanding heights of our economy such as the banks, manufacturing, hi-tech industry, etc. and the largest listed companies. These gains which have given birth to the creation of a sizeable Malay middle and upper class will be put at great risk should there be another May 13. They may even disappear as the economic aftershocks and loss of economic confidence spiral out of control.

Another May 13 is unthinkable and unforgivable except to those who are so blinded by ambition and their lust for power that they need to keep reminding themselves and their supporters of that horrific possibility. However, should it happen, unlike in the first May 13 incident, it will be clear as to who are the instigators.

Conclusion:

I trust this article will encourage more stakeholders – bankers, business leaders, academicians and leaders of all political parties – to speak out and condemn those who are using the threat of another May 13 if there is a change of government. The Malays must remember that even if Pakatan Rakyat wins control of the government, there will be more Malay Members of Parliament than from any other races.

The Malays will be the biggest losers if there is another May 13 riot. – cpi

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All Malaysians likely are friends with the real enemies being MPs and Assemblymen on either BN or Pakatan’s side (especially the extreme wealth types, term limitless, or nepotistic) are the ones who pit Malaysians against Malaysian, then pretend to solve problems while making laws worse and fines higher, cost of living higher, but raising their own 23K MP salaries, asking for 750K funerals, having crony businesses and giving crony licences (like the recent Syed Mokhtar’s Puncak Semangat granted by MCMC twice the bandwidth spectrum above all other contractors – vestedinterest and anti-trust or anti-monopoly laws any Judges? No? All legal BEAGLES, not a single legal NGO made a peep . . . ). Guess who instigated the riots? Only those minority citizens directly involved should be subjected to Bumiputra Apartheid. So who should be punished for instigating riots? (hint : the extreme wealth, term limitless, or nepotistic . . . collecting 1 million of YOUR tax monies every 4 year term . . . ) . . . Vote 3rd Force!

Ex-IGP speaks out against transfers, saying that crime syndicates are now operating freely with ‘blessings from the top’.

Good, honest, hardworking police officers are being transferred from their divisions for doing their work with integrity, claimed former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan.

Musa suggested that these moves are now allowing more and more criminal syndicates to operate freely with “blessings from somebody on top” and also involved politicians at the highest levels.

Musa gave several examples of such transfers, and spoke out against the nationwide enbloc transfer of D7 officers in early 2011.

“After I left, there was an enbloc transfer of D7 officers, right? Not everybody is bad in the D7, why must you change the whole team?” he asked.

On rumours that the transfers were part of a exercise to facilitate syndicates changing hands, Musa said that was not the case, but said it was “because these officers are taking action, because they know a lot of things.”

“…. they were afraid that they couldn’t direct these people from D7,” he said, without explaining who “they” were.

Musa admitted that many of these people given transfers were those he had promoted at one point, but denied that they were part of his ‘camp’.

“I promoted people because of their capabilities and have done a good job…they were transferred out and not given any ranks.

“[During the D7 redeployment], the whole country, all the IPK contingents headquarters, some were transferred to the field force.”

“See… they were all good officers, when they were under me they arrested quite a number from the syndicates, but now there are no arrests anymore.

Musa said D7 is the division tasked with cracking down on vice, gambling, loansharks, prostitution and also to investigate syndicated crime.

“So they have all the intelligence about them, especially the bosses. These are the ones [D7 officers] who actually go after the [crime syndicate] top [guns].

‘Politicians involved in transfers’

FMT: Why such transfers under [current IGP] Ismail Omar’s time?

Musa: To make it easier for them to operate-lah, because when I was the IGP, most of them went away, they left the country.

When you say “they” you are referring to?

Musa: The syndicate bosses.

So are you then saying the current IGP is openly allowing syndicates to operate?

The home minister had to interfere to stop the then IGP Musa Hassan from promoting and transferring his men who would continue working with criminal elements, claims Raja Petra.

(FMT) – Former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan, before his retirement, had allegedly promoted and transferred the “right” police officers who will continue to work hand-in-hand with the triads, claimed popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin today.

However, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had interfered in this exercise, and this has caused a lot of problems for the Chinese underworld and crime syndicates.

“And that is why Musa recently gave his interviews – alleging interference by the politicians in the running of the police force. It is true that the minister blocked Musa’s every move,” said Raja Petra in his latest blog posting in Malaysia Today.

Raja Petra said that Hishammuddin had decided to act as he feared that a continuation of Musa’s influence in the police force would have had a backlash on Umno in the coming general election.

“They know that the voters are unhappy with the police force and that may cost Umno a lot of votes.

“Hence if the minister does not rein in the police, then there is a danger that Umno could lose a sizeable number of votes,” said Raja Petra.

In recent weeks, Musa had claimed that during his tenure as the IGP from 2006 to 2010, there had been political interference and inflitration of criminal elements in the police force.

He said that he had raised these issues through the “proper channels” to the prime minister and home minister, but to no effect.

He had also lashed out at his successor Ismail Omar, claiming that he was a weak police chief.

Musa’s detractors, however, had responded by saying that it was Musa who had allowed the triads to take control of the police force, of his alleged corrupt practices, and of his underhand tactics to “fix people up”, including his former boss Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) chief Ramli Yusuff.

Adding to the list of Musa’s detractors, Raja Petra claimed that the former top cop has many grievances against the government, the present IGP Ismail and Hishammuddin.

Musa’s role in Bersih violence?

Raja Petra said Musa’s bitternes was due to the government’s rejection of his request for a further extension as the police chief.

“He then asked to be made the Malaysian High Commissioner to Brunei and that too was rejected. Instead, he was given just a teaching job, which, to him, is a great insult when other retired IGPs before him were given ‘good’ posts,” he said.

The blogger also claimed that many suspected Musa’s role in the manner police acted violently against Bersih 3.0 rally-goers on April 28 this year.

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Oh dear RPK is a racist! Or should I say fundamentalist? Crime cyndicates? They’d all rather have legal RLDs, Gambling Outlets (non-4D but all regular casino types) and OPZs which the idiot BN government simply refused out of racism and hatred for non-Muslims. RPK, I am disappointed. The above activities are CRIMINALISED there are no criminals among the Chinese community, the entertainment industry was driven underground then labelled as ‘criminal’ or underworld. Legalise and see how many ‘criminals’ there are. The Chinese by nature are always law abiding but will try to screw those who prevent them from having fun. These Human Rights abuses have been affliting the Chinese community long enough in Malaysia and probably every other non-Muslim tin the Middle East as well. How dishonest and selfish can a race or faith get?

The ex-IGP claims that former MACC advisor Robert Phang was involved in a communication devices deal for the police which did not meet specifications.

Teoh El Sen, FMT

Several senior policemen were transferred out of the Bukit Aman Logistics Department (Communications Division) and put in “cold storage” for refusing to approve a technically unsound project involving walkie talkies worth almost RM1 billion.

It is learnt that the project was mooted towards the end of 2008 and involved the replacement of more than 30,000 new walkie-talkies for beat policemen, stations and vehicles nationwide, including Sabah and Sarawak.

However, problems arose a year or two after the project, which was a direct negotiation contract, took off as the implementation of the devices were allegedly not according to specifications.

One of the problems was the apparent lack of coverage or “black spots” in certain areas around the country such as in certain buildings, and in one case very little coverage along the East-West highway despite being promised otherwise.

The other issues, which “deviated from the agreed specificaitons”, include a recording system which sometimes records when nobody speaks and vice versa; and also incidents where the walkie talkie transmits by itself.

However, despite the flaws, sources said that those within the Home Ministry and top ranking policemen were constantly pressuring a team of technical experts to sign the acceptance of the equipment before the issues were smoothed out.

“[Former inspector-general of police] Musa Hassan did not agree to a project that was not done properly but they used KDN [Home Ministry] to force the technical team to do whatever the company wanted. They were under tremendous pressure,” said a source with direct knowledge of the deal.

“By mid 2010, when the first phase was being put out in the Klang Valley, we already noticed that all these problems were surfacing, but they were swept under the carpet.

“They realised that if they signed the project, we will go to jail. So better transfer,” added the source.

Investigate Ismail

Speaking to FMT on this, Musa said when he was still IGP, he kept a close watch on the project to ensure that the equipment was what the police needed. However, he claimed, other parties’ interests crept in after he left.

Musa said that prominent businessman and former MACC advisor Robert Phang was a consultant for the project and acted as a go-between the police and the provider, a multinational telecommunications company.

“Because he was close with the police. So at that time, I believe that there were some government officers in the ministry who was involved in the company.

“Since it was approved by the government, I had to carry it out. But I made sure that the technical team that overseeing the project does not compromise to ensure that it is up to specifications and to ensure that this communication can be used throughout Malaysia without any hiccups.

“So after I left… I was not quite happy because it was still not up to specifications. I was informed that it would not work well and that is why the technical team refused to sign the commission so that money can be paid,” he told FMT.

However, Musa alleged that even Phang threatened the team. “The team received a call from him saying that if you don’t sign it, you will be transferred out.”

True enough, he added, at least three officers ranked DSP, Supt and SAC were then given letters of transfers out of the department.

“So the team refused to sign, and they were called by the IGP. The present IGP [Ismail Omar] asked them to commission it… because they need the government to pay the money… I don’t know how many million. So they got transferred and now it actually went through.

“Officers who have the capability and technical expertise in communication are being put in cold storage by this businessman. That’s how good his connections are. He is very close to the IGP now… very friendly with the home minister,” said Musa.

Musa said that he wanted the authorities to investigate Ismail for possibly abusing his powers and Phang for allegedly abetting the former.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Robert Phang had neglected to address Bumiputra Apartheid, in this case at least from this, I believe Musa’s accusation of duplicity and complicity on Robert Phang’s part. Meanwhile, perhaps Musa had not thought in terms of BEING CHINESE when accusing the so-called syndicates of being ‘criminals’ in the above response. Where synthetics are involved, I am on Musa’s side as well, but everything else labelled criminal by Musa should be dropped as mere entertainment and oppression of Chinese by jealous Muslims who are not supposed to have fun.

The current IGP’s links in the RLD, OPZ or Gambling outlet is Human Rights CORRECT so long as no Muslims are allowed to use the same, and Malaysia’s laws are in fact oppressive and inapplicable. MCA, Gerakan and DAP of course are criminal minded enough to not address these problems while hiding behind a veneer of ‘morality’ but know this, a MAN who cannot tell the difference between Voltarian Freedoms and Fundamentalism expressed Political Expedience are but mere CHILDREN living moralistic fantasies in the childhood. Those who are moral evidently do not under stand civil society and the ETHICS that allow for civilisation by allowing so-called ‘criminal activities’ which are simply entertainments tarred with demogogues and fundamentalists, orwellian minded politicians intent on control by suppression of entertainment.

Adults and free citizens (think Amsterdam’s OPZs, adult zones (RLDs) and various ‘Gambling Districts worldwide, Playboy Clubs, Hustler Clubs, Penthouse Clubs or just the Zona de Tolerancia) who’s faith permits enjoy RLDs, OPZs gambling and what not – NO PERSON OR GROUP IN THE WORLD has the right to prevent another group from having access or to set up such entertainments, though ‘pushing fun’ on the non-consenting is another thing.

The above response describes the sick immatured/oppression-intended pathos of the ethos reliant/blinded Chinese and Indians who are non-‘criminal’, and I am sure the TRULY EDUCATED can relate to and will stand by what this response means. Citizens are not chattel of the state or their faiths or their retarded neighbours, and the CIVILIAN LAWS *MUST* reflect the reality of FREEDOM, Human Rights and Democracy, MUST protect such rights, Muslims or no Muslims, fundos or no fundos of whatever faith or cultlike sect.

And then the above, which ALL politicians have neglected to implement so they can profit off strife and oppression of the libido or the saporific effects of Organic psychedelics! Freud should take up this cause even from beyond the grave . . .

We are merely kidding ourselves if we think the rules by PAS only apply to Muslims.

THERE they go again. The PAS-­controlled Kelantan state government, which has yet to resolve the controversy over the gender segregation ruling on hair salons run by non-Muslims, has now found itself in another explosive issue.

Four non-Muslims – two men on a plane-spotting outing and a couple in a park – have been issued with summonses for khalwat.

The summonses were for “indecent behaviour” but the four have denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the municipal council enforcement officers were “merely abusing their position”.

The first case involved two men in their 30s who were in a car parked beside the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport. They claimed they were watching planes land in the night when they were issued with the summonses by these Taliban-style officers.

This writer can only deduce that Kota Baru must be so boring – the result of a ban on entertainment outlets – that the two young men have to watch planes landing at the airport for entertainment. How these officers can consider their action an offence is mind-boggling.

But we know that the PAS politicians have a great sense of imagination and can conjure up fantasies out of seemingly ordinary situations. They think that getting a haircut from a person of the opposite sex can lead to moral decay and watching concerts can lead to hedonism or excessive pleasure, whatever that means.

Malaysians know that these cranky politician-theologians also frown upon the mixed company of males and females, but two non-Muslim men being punished for being in a car together, that’s a new one. Are they telling us now that two men together can lead to immoral activities or that watching planes at the airport can be sexually arousing? Even if they had committed a “gay act”, does the council have any jurisdiction over non-Muslims?

The other case involved a 17-year-old boy and a girl aged 15. They were together at the Tengku Anis Park in the town centre, in broad daylight, when they were arrested. They were approached by the enforcement officers and issued summonses on the spot for purported indecent behaviour.

Nothing seems to be safe any more for non-Muslims in Kota Baru. You get fined for having a hair cut by a hairstylist of a different sex, you get fined for being in love and sharing private moments in a park in broad daylight, and you also get summoned for being in a wrong queue in a supermarket check-out.

Before anyone accuses this writer of filing another PAS-bashing piece, it is important to point out that the protest over the latest controversies was started by the National PAS Supporters Congress president Hu Pang Chaw, who is known for his apologist stand for the Islamist party.

Interestingly enough, Hu has also revealed that the male victims had complained to him that the officers had even sought RM500 “to settle the matter”, which means that these holier-than-thou officers were open to corruption.

Hu added that “as far as I know, the council has no right to issue summonses to non-Muslims for close contact with their girlfriends in the dark or out in the open”. But Hu shouldn’t plead ignorance now because the PAS rules have always infringed upon non-Muslims. This is not the first time and it won’t be the last.

Don’t blame PAS either because they have consistently told Malaysians that their objective is to turn Malaysia into an Islamic State. Barisan Nasional tells us that we are already an Islamic State, but they still keep intact the secular laws and the British-style courts.

But for political expediency, and for selfish political ambitions, there is now a deafening silence from allies of PAS. The only exception seems to be DAP chairman Karpal Singh, who has also consistently spoken up against the hudud laws pushed by PAS. However, his party comrades have decided to keep silent and, worse, are encouraging us to elect more PAS leaders into Parliament and the state assemblies.

It is also pertinent to note that during The Star’s interview with the Sultan of Selangor, the Tuanku had revealed that there were politicians who tried to prevent the opening of cinemas in shopping malls in Shah Alam! This is in Selangor and not even in Kelantan. We can also assume that this must be the work of PAS elected representatives.

We know for a fact that the PAS state assemblyman for Bangi, Dr Shafie Abu Bakar, has prevented a cinema from being set up by a non-Muslim, and that the Kuala Selangor PAS wants to stop unmarried couples from watching movies in a cinema there.

We are merely kidding ourselves if we think the rules by PAS do not affect non-Muslims. Despite the promised intervention by PAS’ top leaders over the hair salon ruling, nothing has changed until today.

In an interview with The Malay Mail on Friday, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was quoted as saying “even Chinese wives don’t agree with (unisex) salons”.

He seems out of touch with reality, or pretending to be.

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So sue the government or run for politics to get political immunity to make known to the world what is happening here in Malaysia. Have the respect and ethos, the cash to fund proxy candidates? Don’t talk here from behind the media.

Najib launched the club at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) via tele-conferencing with club members from SM Yu Yuen, Sandakan, Sabah.

The Prime Minister, when interacting said the setting up of the club in Sandakan was a testimony that the people in the country, including the people of Sabah, are confident with the 1Malaysia concept and the transformation agenda of the country.

He said the club can become a bridge for communication between him (Najib) and the people in Sabah to understand the feelings and expectation of the people towards the Government.

“Thank you for your confidence and support. I believe we can use this line of communication to exchange ideas and to make comments from time to time.

“I feel this is a very positive development because this will create not only good communication but also interpersonal relationship between all of you and the governor,” he said.

Najib said he hoped the trust of the people towards the Government would continue with the commitment of the Government to establish transformation as the main agenda of the country.

“We believe we are a strong government that can lead the country towards fulfilling the vision of becoming a developed nation. Malaysians are our responsibility and we must strive to promote harmony and stability among the various ethnics in Malaysia,” he said.

Najib said 1Malaysia was not just a slogan but rather an overarching philosophy to the principle of the nation, including policies and transformation agendas.

“1Malaysia is about forming, unity and harmony…it is based on fairness, inclusive and moderation…all that are part and parcel of the 1Malaysia philosophy.

“1Malaysia will be our overarching philosophy and with your support this nation will transform to be the first red nation and a nation that we can all be proud of,” he said. – Bernama

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The lowest of the apartheid accepting ‘slaves’ KTK par excellence have just confirmed their pariah status. Good job Najib! You’v helped identify which Chinese and which Chinese families are no longer Chinese! Those that are lower than the MCA bunch here will not even be MCA members but who join out of sheer cluelessness. Say ‘Massa’ or ‘Tuan’ yer Goreans! How masochistic and unaware of equality can overseas (Malaysian) Chinese get!

Umno’s much-touted 66th general assembly ended with a whimper, its cries of being able to snatch two-thirds of the seats in Parliament downed by missiles that emanated from its own base boomeranging badly on its top leader – the scandal-plagued and embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Despite acknowledging that Umno’s notorious corruption was its own worst enemy, Najib failed to speak up against graft, introduce serious pre-emptive reforms or to even promise a new horizon where transparency would be the rule and not the exception.

His political rivals were not surprised, attributing this in large part due to at least 3 major pieces of shocking news that erupted just days before the Umno assembly started.

“What is there to say. It is so clear Umno cannot change. Its leaders can order the mainstream media, the TV and newspapers to black out the news. They can shout at how confident they are to win the 13th general election but Umno delegates and members have that sinking feeling in their hearts,” PAS MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad told Malaysia Chronicle.

“Inwardly, many grassroots are disappointed and disgusted by the dishonesty and corruption of their leaders but they won’t do much because this is the nature of Umno. It has always been. Those who can’t stand it will leave, those who stay will hang on and hope for a piece of the gravy train even though they know it is corrupt.”

TRIPLE bombshells, more to come?

The first news break that shocked the country came from French lawyers, who revealed that the investigative judges hearing the RM7.3bil Scorpene case in Paris had decided that, contrary to the Malaysian government’s claims, murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu was involved in Putrajaya’s acquisition of submarinnes from naval giant DCNS and would be requesting for full records of her murder trial.

This news set tongues wagging as Umno members thronged the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur where their annual congress was held. Perhaps the news reverberated all the more because Najib had foolishly refused to allow the French lawyers to come to Malaysia to brief Members of Parliament on the latest status of case, thereby increasing the suspicion against himself and his wife Rosmah Mansor, both of whom have been accused of involvement and whose former bodyguards were sentenced to hang for the murder.

Next were the twin bombshells dropped by carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan, a former close friend of Rosmah’s. According to Deepak, the first couple enlisted his help in overturning a statutory declaration that implicated them in the Altantuya murder. The news sparked calls for a re-opening of the Altantuya murder trial which has been questioned for its ‘quality’ of justice, with the court accused of ignoring evidence that the bodyguards may have been merely the hired killers and that the people who gave the order to murder still at large.

As if that were not enough and Umno members were not already reeling at the alleged misdeeds of their president and his wife, Deepak went on to accuse a “member of Najib’s family” of taking millions of ringgit for his approving the RM100 Puspahanas project, a research centre commissioned by the Ministry of Defense which despite being privatized in 2005 remains only about 20% built today.

“Umno’s ‘war’ 66th General Assembly has ended with UMNO leaders confident and euphoric, with the Umno Secretary-General Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and other Umno leaders declaring that Umno will not only triumph in the next general elections, but will win back the two-thirds parliamentary majority as well as all the four Pakatan states including Kelantan and Penang,” DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said in a statement.

“However, ‘Man proposes, God disposes’. Although the just-concluded Assembly was painstakingly choreographed and orchestrated, with a lot of do’s and don’t’s for those who spoke at the four-day Umno Assemblies to optimise Umno’s appeal in the 13GE, the ineluctable conclusion of rational and thinking Malaysians is that despite all the talk of “transformation”, Umno leaders and Umno are incapable of change so long as Umno remains corrupted in the corridors of power.

“Umno and Barisan Nasional have become synonymous with corruption in Malaysia and the 44 months of Najib premiership have shown that Najib is only good at mouthing anti-corruption slogans but totally lacking the political will and commitment to root out corruption, especially grand corruption involving political and government leaders.

“This is why the 66th UMNO General Assembly presented the sad spectacle of the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman, successfuly performing the “disappearance” act despite valiant efforts by the media representatives on a look-out for him to respond to demands by Sabah UMNO delegates that Musa explain the scandal of the RM40million “political donation to Sabah UMNO” which involved him and the Sabah timber trader Michael Chia.

“Also most disturbing is the backing out and silence of the Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi coupled with the failure of Najib to respond to the serious allegations of integrity about a RM100 million defence ministry project in 2005 raised by businessman Deepak Jaikishan implicating the Prime Minister’s family and which is also related to the high-profile and long-running Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case. Haunting Najib at the 66th UMNO General Assembly was the ghost of Altantuya Shaariibuu. Why couldn’t Altantuya’s ghost be appeased?”

Even the UMNO Malays might concede on the above 3 items than let Pakatan win.

UMNO will be torn apart after the Judiciary is replaced by Pakatan cronies. we all know how Malaysia works (too many legal beagles too few legal eagles), and the people might be displeased enough with UMNO too that Pakatan need not even ‘do the dirty work’, many terrible things probably happened by some faction’s hands in the past and who knows the aggrieved are just waiting for BN to be politically destroyed . .

BN REALLY should use the mandate to grant the above 3 items, that way at least they MIGHT have some places to run to avoid those they have hurt since independence or may yet turn the 40%+ minority and possibly majority of Malays to their side again. The above 3 items are rightful Human Rights, why risk losses in GE13 by not granting something so basic? Is racism and greed so much fun that GE13 is worth losing? For all the faults the article above points at, the chance to win is still there, IF Pakatan does not confirm the above 3 items and BN grants the above 3 items BEFORE GE13. As they say, ain’t over till over . . . but so long as BN does not use the mandate to grant the 3 items, BN with a record of abuses and failures and racism will indeed fail.

ARTICLE 20

THINK NAJIB! If you can’t even sort out Dr M or reform Umno, HOW CAN YOU RULE M’SIA? – Hornbill Unleashed – Martin Jalleh – December 10, 2012

The General Elections beckons and it looks as though the Prime Minister (PM) has gone berserk. He is making comments most bizarre! He blurts out statements beyond human logic!

Soon after the last General Elections he had warned his political party that either it changes or the government that it so dominates will be changed by the people.

He now surprisingly admits that Umno needs to change (The Malaysian Insider, 7 Dec., 2012). In other words, his party has not changed – which in fact clearly contradicts what he and his cohorts have been saying!

For instance the Sun Daily reported on 1 Dec. 2012: Following up on his apology for Umno’s past wrongdoings, at the opening of the party’s 66th general assembly…Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak today closed the annual event by exuding optimism that the people’s confidence for Umno is well on recovery mode.

“There is such tremendous response,” he told a euphoric crowd of delegates who seemed charged-up to defend the party’s hold over Malaysia in the upcoming general election.

“Not just from the Malay people…. The non-Malays also see Umno more positively than in the earlier times.

“They see that with each passing day, Umno is recovering even more… With each passing day, they see that Umno is qualified even more, to rule this country.

“We have shown that we are capable to remedy our condition. We are closing ranks and displaying an extraordinary spirit,” he said in his presidential speech at the Putra World Trade Centre here.

“Indicating to the party faithful – and voters at large – that Umno has indeed transformed and improved from what it was in the 2008 general election when the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition it led lost four states and its two-thirds majority in Parliament, he proceeded to dish out warnings at those in the party who may hamper it in the next election.”

Mandate from the people to reform Umno? But what if Umno still resists after Najib gets the mandate?

First you say Umno has changed. Yet in your latest comment you admit that it has not changed! Alas dear Mr PM are you not being a chameleon which you so often accuse Anwar Ibrahim of?

What is most preposterous is that Najib says “he needs a mandate from voters in order to reform Umno” (The Malaysian Insider, 7 Dec., 2012)!

“If I want to reform the party, I need a mandate from the people. Without the mandate from the electorate how can I reform the party?” he told the Malay Mail in an interview published recently.

The Malaysian Insider commented: “Reforming Umno has proven to be a monumental task despite the party’s and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) flagging popularity, particularly in urban areas.

“The Umno president has been pushing a reform agenda which included the repeal of security laws considered draconian and the push for a more multi-racial agenda.

“But conservative forces within the party, especially those linked with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have resisted change and have pushed a more Malay-centric platform.

“Mindful of Dr Mahathir’s continued influence, Najib has been careful not to alienate the former PM who had contributed to BN’s worst electoral performance in Election 2008 when he campaigned against the administration of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“But ahead of key national elections due next year, Prime Minister Najib said he was pleading for voters to grant him the mandate to continue his reform policies that can spur Malaysia forward for the greater good even as he acknowledges his party and the ruling BN coalition’s sluggishness towards change. (The Malaysian Insider, 7 Dec., 2012)

“With this mandate, a strong mandate from the people, I will deliver what I promised. This is not just about GE13, it’s about transforming the nation and I’m committed to it.”

Don’t be over-ambitious, Najib: Sort out Dr M first before you seek to rule the WHOLE nation

Why don’t you try to change your own party before you try to transform the whole nation, Mr PM?

“If I want to reform the party, I need a mandate from the people. Without the mandate from the electorate how can I reform the party?”

The mandate given by the people (the electorate) in the General Elections is to transform the country and not to reform your party! That’s Umno’s and your job!

Please get the mandate from your own party members to reform your own party! It appears that either you have failed to get the mandate from Umno members to change the party or in spite of the support given to you, you have failed to reform it.

And since you have failed to reform Umno, the party will be an obstacle to your plans to transform the country. It would not make any sense for you to continue as Umno president and as the PM.

And if you cannot even change your own party are we to expect that you are going to bring about change in the country?

Alas, perhaps it is time to change the president of Umno and the Prime Minister of this country!

MAILBAG

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Shut up Jalleh! I like what Najib is saying here IF thats sincere (doubtful but we’d never know but so long as the below 3 items are actually concretised, the voters couldn’t care less and will give PM Najib a second term) and relates to the below 3 items. What is Jalleh doing? Trying to goad Najib into the arms of those racists being berated? If BN grants :

;even the Chinese would vote BN over Pakatan which has never made clear on the above. Of course BN would be unlikely to grant the above given the number of racists, but Najib is indeed thinking and should not be hammered. Are you an UMNO disinfo agent Jalleh? Or just angry in a way that your articles are skewed in a manner that makes impossible the above 3 items?

Najib asked voters to give BN more time to execute the changes it has planned for the country. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 ? Again calling for change in Barisan Nasional (BN), Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today voters are choosing Pakatan Rakyat (PR) because they want to send a message to the ruling coalition.

“The message is for us to change as a party,” the BN chairman said while launching the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) annual general meeting (AGM) here.

“They want BN as a party to be more fair, inclusive, and so that every citizen of Malaysia will receive equal treatment and benefits from BN.”

The prime minister’s remarks came after PPP president Datuk Seri M. Kayveas’s address, in which the latter said voters are flocking to PR because they are “worried” by perceived discrimination and prejudice under BN’s rule.

Fresh from closing Umno’s annual assembly here yesterday, Najib again called on voters to give BN more time to renew itself by supporting it in the polls.

“We’re in the process of renewal. Real changes are taking place in Malaysia.

“Real changes are taking place while the same party is in power in Malaysia,” the Umno president said.

Najib also criticised the “Ubah” (change) slogan touted by DAP and PR, comparing their call for change to the recent “Arab Spring” revolution.

“If we change, are we sure we’re getting something better?

“(The people involved in Arab Spring) are not enjoying the ‘spring weather’. They’re still in the winter of discontent,” Najib said.

The prime minister said that the revolutions in the Middle East had caused the countries involved to lose out on tourism and currency exchange, as well as suffer declines to their security.

But Najib also confessed that winning the next general election will not be easy, saying that voters’ opinions were now easily swayed by current issues.

“Before this, we can just put a songkok (to contest) and we would still win.

“Now we need to read the desires of the public, understand the wishes of the people.”

Najib then appeared to criticise grassroots leaders for failing to disseminate the aspirations of the BN administration effectively, leading to problems with perceived discrimination and prejudice.

“The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground.

“These people must try to understand what the government wants. If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system … must do that,” Najib added to applause from the floor.

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Najib then appeared to criticise grassroots leaders for failing to disseminate the aspirations of the BN administration effectively, leading to problems with perceived discrimination and prejudice.

“The problem is not at the top, the problem is on the ground. “These people must try to understand what the government wants. If we say we must treat every citizen equally, the whole system … must do that,” Najib added to applause from the floor.

Politics should be about honesty, and civilisational Islam (or other religion) is not crony laws and racial privileges. As mentioned elsewhere, were a screen applied to ensure meritocracy (to mask race), a translation machine (to mask language), and a voice modulator and distortion screen or camera (to mask gender) applied at a job interview, we’d be surprised at the choices we make based on POLICY rather than race or religion or cult of personality (which harms the accuracy of content via sheer pathos via inverse civility). Then the concept of NATION would be real. Right now the ‘needs basis’ is based around wrong things like religion and race or even gender ‘quotas’, which is very backward and insulting to the host race the Malays, the minorities, or men in general. Let the best people lead and let them be limited in terms AND chosen with the above tech applied so that the above racial or gender or religious cues will not affect choices. Finally, a first world ‘Meritocracy’ of logic and ability (as opposed to mob minded and pathos based DEMOCRACY of majority) must include :

KOTA BARU: The 17-year-old teenager, who was issued a summons for allegedly giving his girlfriend a “piggy-back ride” at a public park, is upset and embarrassed following the incident.

The teenager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had a tough time explaining to his mother that he was innocent and that he and his 15-year-old girlfriend did nothing indecent.

The teenager was given the summons for allegedly “piggy-backing” his girlfriend while jogging at Taman Tunku Anis at about 5.30pm on Oct 20.

“The incident was traumatic for me and my girlfriend because although I am not an expert in council by-laws, I think what I did was merely having fun with my girlfriend. It was far from an offence.

“We were just fooling around in broad daylight like any other teenager but the officer who approached us said it was improper for us to act like that in public.

“He continued giving us a lecture on morality and when I thought that we would be let off with a warning, he issued us with the summons,” he said yesterday adding that he was now in Kuala Lumpur after completing his SPM examinations.

Summonses had also been issued to two non-Muslim men were for allegedly embracing each other when they were found in a car parked near the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport at midnight on Oct 31. Both have denied the allegations.

The action against the four led to an outcry by various groups which likened it to imposing the Syariah law of close proximity or “khalwat” on non-Muslims.

The teenager also claimed he had argued with the officer as it was unfair to penalise someone when a verbal warning would suffice.

“When I got home that day, I showed the summons to my mother.

“She was very upset at first but when she saw the nature of the offence written in the summons, she believed that I had done nothing wrong.

“My mother thinks I should not have been issued with the summons and that is why she has brought up the matter with lawyers to ask their opinion on the matter,” he added.

He said the news about the incident spread and many assumed that he was involved in “hanky-panky business” with his girlfriend.

“All my friends wanted to know what happened in the park. But when I told them that my girlfriend was merely on my back, they did not believe me and after seeing the summons, my friends will now think twice about hanging out with their girlfriends anywhere.

“They are now afraid to even go to the park with their girlfriends,” she added.

He said he had been under some stress during the SPM examinations because of the incident.

“But I believe I did okay because my conscience is clear and my family is with me,” he said.

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Let all Malaysians vote only for MPs who believe in dropping the entire Syariah Court system in favour of the civil court system. Also :

KUALA LUMPUR – The DAP today urged the Malaysian government to lodge diplomatic protests over Israel’s cruel actions on the people of Gaza, Palestine.

Its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Wisma Putra (the Foreign Ministry) should make vehement protests on Israel’s actions to the United States and the United Nations so that the violence perpetrated against the people of Gaza was stopped forthwith.

“DAP condemns Israel’s using its military might disproportionately to the rocket attacks from Palestinian fighters. Israel’s aggression on Gaza always brings unnecessary deaths and damage to property,” he said in a statement here today.

At least 30 people have been killed and scores others injured, including women and children, in Israel’s latest airstrikes on the Gaza Strip which began on Wednesday.

Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza and the brutal killings of innocent Palestinians. The incessant shelling of whatever that is left of the Palestinian homeland is a gross violation of international law and constitutes acts of cold blooded murder.

We categorically condemn these blatant acts of aggression and call on the international community to do whatever that is necessary to put an end to the violence. The continued bombardment and the calling up of 75,000 reservists constitute a grave threat to peace and stability in the region.

We would reiterate the warning by both Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi that serious consequences would ensue if Israel follows up with its threat of a ground offensive.

Take clear moral stand

President Barack Obama must act immediately and decisively to put to an end to the increasing tension in the region by making it clear to Israel that their continued acts of aggression and the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza will have severe implications not just for the region but for international peace and stability.

All peace loving nations must take a clear moral stand on this issue and pressure Israel to cease its brutal, inhumane and oppressive actions against the people of Gaza, already marginalized for years and since 2006, unfairly penalised by the Western powers for having elected Hamas to power.

DAP is the worst political party EVER. We still have APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA here in Malaysia and DAP wants to target Israel AN ENTIRE country embroiled in decades of war instead? GTFO of Dewan DAP! End apartheid and unequal citizenships first then talk about Israel. If DAP can’t even walk as equals among Malaysians, DAP has no business talking about Israel. DAP is run by nepotistic term limitless idiots.

Also selected comments from another media site confirm DAP’s irrelevance to Malaysian politics and lack of interest in Human Rights locally (DAP accepts 2nd class citizenships but wants to fight the 10th Crusade on the side of Muslims? Obama didn’t get through to Anwar now did he? PKR has not spoken against apartheid or ensured Article 18 of the Human Rights Charter but wants to berate Obama on Palestine? Send in the marines!

Sunday, 18 November 2012 12:28 posted by Malaysian

DAP is barking up the wrong tree. It is now supporting aggressors. Hamas knew that the rocket attacks on Israel would get a strong response if they kept it up long enough. Were they thinking of the wellbeing of the Palestinians in this case? I think not. Like many in the world community, DAP has now been drawn into condemning Israel’s right to defend itself while conveniently forgetting that it was Hamas who started the violence. Can we have some common sense here, or is it too much to ask of DAP on this issue?

Sunday, 18 November 2012 14:38 posted by CorruptWorld

The corrupt and dictatorial leaderships in the middle east nations are fearful of the momentum of “the Arab Spring”. Rhetorica against Iran’s nuclear program, Iran supports Asad of Syria n militants in Iraq, Hezbollah meddling in Labenon, all year long Hamas firing rockets into Isreal, Isreal heavy response….these are planned political, big arms deals and corruption from bottom to top maneuvers by the leaders in West and East to divert or kill off the middle east peoples’ uprising and yearn for freedom and change of governments. Both, Isreal and Hamas are to blame for escalating tensions and hardship on their own people’s. When peace is near and real, they both acting up again. The ruling Government of Isreal is not true Jews as with Hamas is not true Muslims.

Sunday, 18 November 2012 22:31 posted by dominic

This is the second call from PR leaders . I have yet to see any call for Hamas to immediately cease their un-provocative shelling of Israel . Any disagreement is best settled on the round table instead of lobbing mortars and missles to gander international support and attention . Any peace at all need both side to abide collectively. No one party can go in alone !

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Drop the Israel-Palestine B.S.. . . ARE YOU A MINORITY living in Malaysia @dominic? If there is no equal standing locally for 40% of the population, stop talking about a country half a world away and handle the local issues first, Malaysia is half a Trillion in debt and has apartheid issues, this Israel-Palestine conflict is the work of SUPERPOWERS, and China and India are modest enough to keep their distance to let Russia and USA handle this, not even England or the EU want to get involved and here we have BN or Pakatan making alot of noise on the side . . . can’t even have equality, country in serious debt, can’t end Apartheid, and want to target the Middle East issues? Malaysian citizens as unfocused as Malaysian politicians, backyard issues first!

ARTICLE 2

The Ipoh boy who spoke no English… and rose to be Chief Justice – Sunday, 18 November 2012 08:29

This is an excerpt of a tribute delivered by Law Minister K. Shanmugam in Parliament on Monday to Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, who retired on Nov 6.

SINGAPORE’S constitutional framework enshrines the rule of law, the independence of the courts and the separation of powers.

The Constitution establishes the Judiciary as a separate and independent institution, and charges it with the responsibility to interpret the law and apply it to cases which come before the courts.

At the head of the Judiciary is the Chief Justice. Through his judgments and extra-judicial writings, his presidency over appellate hearings and even his personal conduct, the Chief Justice sets the tone for the administration of justice in Singapore.

It is a heavy responsibility, and Singapore has been singularly fortunate that, for the past six years, that responsibility has been discharged by Chief Justice Chan.

Humble background

THE Chief Justice came from a humble background. He lived in a communal house in Ipoh, started his education late because of the war, and could not speak English when he first went to school.

But adversity did not slow him down. He was one of the top students in the Senior Cambridge School Certificate in 1955, with eight distinctions.

He could not decide what to read at university. He was not thinking of doing law – he had no idea what a legal career would be like. Happily for Singapore, he was persuaded to do law by his English literature teacher, Dr Etherton, who said that he had a “very crafty mind” – in a good sense.

Chief Justice Chan joined the inaugural LL.B. class of 1961 in the then University of Malaya, and was one of the top students in a class that produced several other students who went on to hold high positions in the law.

Private practice

CHIEF Justice Chan practised briefly in Kuala Lumpur before joining Braddell Brothers in Singapore in 1963. He did so because he wanted to continue to be with then his girlfriend, Elisabeth Eber, whom he later married.

Later, the Chief Justice joined Shook Lin & Bok, where he rose to become the managing partner and one of Singapore’s leading banking and corporate lawyers, with a complete mastery of the law and a keen understanding of commercial and practical realities.

He was the counsel of choice for many banks and financial institutions, and drafted many of the standard banking and corporate documents used throughout Singapore in the late 1970s and in the 1980s.

The Chief Justice never hid behind verbiage. I once had to advise on a guarantee which was drafted by the Chief Justice. It comprised two paragraphs, in a telex. The party which challenged the validity of the guarantee – perhaps because it looked too short to be a guarantee! – later backed down. Though brief, the document was clear and accurate. That was the hallmark of the Chief Justice: in the way he gave his advice, in the way he drafted documents and in the way he wrote his judgments.

Judicial commissioner and judge

CHIEF Justice Chan was appointed a Judicial Commissioner in 1986 – the first person to be so appointed. He was later elevated to be a Judge in 1988.

During his first judicial tenure, from 1986 to 1992, the Chief Justice demonstrated the independence of mind and the keenness of analysis that lawyers today are familiar with. In this period, he heard a fair number of public law cases, and, in his own words, “the decisions are fairly divided between those decided for and against the Government”.

It was during this period that I started my own career in the law. In 1987, I appeared as a junior, with Mr Joseph Grimberg, in a case before the Chief Justice. The precedents were not clear. While Mr Grimberg was making his arguments, the Chief Justice somehow noticed – I don’t know how, perhaps it showed in my face – that I was keen for a point to be made. He asked Mr Grimberg to ask me what the point was. I was quite struck that the Chief Justice noticed everything in his court – he was so alert that he even picked up on the thought processes of a junior, and pursued the point.

His handling of the case, both in the way he conducted the hearing, as well as his legal analysis, left a deep impression on me.

He had an excellent judicial temperament – no flourish, no hyperbole, no drama. He always cut to the chase, succinct. He was usually well ahead of counsel and on top of all the issues – a first-rate, world-class judicial mind.

Attorney-General

IN 1992, Chief Justice Chan was appointed the third Attorney-General of Singapore.

As Public Prosecutor, he had the constitutional responsibility for instituting and conducting prosecutions. He acted firmly and in the public interest. At the same time, he was fair to the accused.

He enhanced the capabilities of the Attorney-General’s Chambers by strengthening the Civil and Criminal Divisions, and setting up the International Affairs Division and the Law Reform and Law Revision Division. His successors have built on this strong foundation, and today the AGC has a full- fledged team of first-rate lawyers, numbering about 250.

As Attorney-General, and later as Chief Justice, Chief Justice Chan played a leading role in the Pedra Branca litigation.

He presented our case before the International Court of Justice in a very clear manner, together with Professor S. Jayakumar, Professor Tommy Koh and others. The ICJ decisively upheld Singapore’s sovereignty over Pedra Branca. Chief Justice’s personal interests – he is a keen student of history – helped substantially in presenting Singapore’s case. His collection of South-east Asian history books, one of the largest in Singapore, was extensively used for the ICJ hearing.

Chief Justice

Mr Chan was appointed as Chief Justice in 2006. The appointment was received with great enthusiasm by the legal community.

Chan Sek Keong the Chief Justice was very much like Chan Sek Keong the man – humble, unassuming, with a powerful intellect and a keen sense of integrity.

Outside of the courtroom, Chief Justice Chan demanded that lawyers meet the highest standards of professional conduct, and took decisive measures to safeguard clients’ monies from errant lawyers. He constantly encouraged the legal fraternity, from Senior Counsel to law student, to do more pro bono work, to improve access to justice for the less fortunate amongst us.

He started the Young Amicus Curiae scheme where young lawyers could assist Judges hearing Magistrate’s Appeals, and expose themselves to criminal work.

He stressed the need for top- tier advocacy in commercial cases. He observed that top Senior Counsel were often retained by large institutions, rendering them unable or unavailable to act against such institutions. The result was that small law firms and individual clients who wanted representation against large institutions could not instruct Senior Counsel. He thus advocated that Queen’s Counsel be allowed to appear more freely in our courts, so that small law firms and individual clients can instruct them.

As a judge, Chief Justice believed that “judgments should be expressed in a language that a reasonably educated layman can understand”, and indeed his judgments stand out for their clarity and simple elegance.

He believed in procedural fairness, that “litigants must come away from the court with the feeling that even though they lost, they have had their day in court and have been heard”.

He believed that the function of judges was to interpret and to apply the law, and not to legislate or make policy in the guise of adjudication. In that sense, he was a legal positivist.

At the same time, he believed that judges had a role in developing the law interstitially, consonant with national values and fundamental principles of the common law.

To promote the practice development of Singapore law, he issued a Practice Direction that Singapore cases should be cited in preference to foreign cases. In the course of his judicial career, he wrote almost 380 judgments, or more than 30 a year. His judgments, which span many areas of the law, will continue to influence our jurisprudence for many years to come.

He believed in justice for the common man. Above all, the Chief Justice was a firm believer in the rule of law and the duty of the court to uphold the law. In a lecture in 2010, he offered a robust rebuke to those who doubted the independence of the Judiciary.

When the boy from Ipoh came to Singapore to study, settle down and start a career in the law, it was Singapore which ultimately benefited.

Any legal professional that has sat by and watched the lack of the above, is a ‘boy’ . . . Ipoh or wherever from . . . not a MAN who challenges the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA for the mere right to equality. Any Malaysian who RAN AWAY from Malaysia to Singapore, and not spoken a word against apartheid despite reaching such high status is a very cynical person, especially when no-longer holding posts or active in government.

‘While still at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), he was frequently asked about the Internal Security Act (ISA) — a law that enables the government to detain people without trial. The issue also recently grabbed headlines when the Catholic Archbishop of Singapore retracted a letter of support he sent to activist group Function 8, when it organised an event earlier this year calling for its abolition. Asked for his views on more controversial detentions in Singapore’s history, including Operation Coldstore in 1963 and Operation Spectrum in 1987, he felt it inappropriate to offer comment on specific incidents in the past because he was not privy to the specific security considerations applicable to them. With clearer knowledge of the situation between 2008 and 2011, however, Shanmugam is certain of the overarching rationale for the Act in the current international security environment — that ultimately it acts as a preventive measure where security threats are discovered on classified intelligence.

With the days of mass, high-profile detentions a thing of the past, though, whether the law should stay or not, he feels, all boils down to the evaluation of which of two risks Singapore is more prepared to take. “(The ISA) gives the power to the government to detain people without going through the due process of the courts. Once you have such a structure, is there a possibility of abuse? Of course… so that’s the risk,” he acknowledged. However, he pointed out, “Society has got to decide between that risk, or the risk that an incident might actually occur, and then you have to ask yourself, ‘What are the consequences of each of the two risks materialising? What is the impact on Singapore?’ and then people have to choose.” Shanmugam explained that where Singapore lacks in natural resources, it makes up for in a clean ecosystem that is friendly to businesses.’

Propagandist Indian raised into high stature, now here supporting draconian laws, and know that Shanmugam is present only for token multiracialism. Singapore is not friendly to business, but only acts as a money laundering front and military base of sorts centered around a CIVILIAN JUNTA around the nepotistic Lee family . . .

How can he compare to our wealthy, hollywood handsome pedigree and powerful Minister Nazari. Even Nazari son can afford to wear a million dollar watch. Can this S’porean(ex M’sian) CJ do likewise.

Aiyah, our Minister Nazari is 1st class conman – con his own people and also con everybody that there is nothing wrong in $40 million fiasco involving Michael Chia & Musa. By the way, sorry lah people like Justice Chan is not wanted by Malaysia. Smart people in Malaysia is a liability. They complain too much about UMNO’s brand of government. Too many smart people, where to cari makan.

Sunday, 18 November 2012 20:52 posted by Oran Utan

You guys still don’t get it do you? For UMNO this is all about Ketuanan Melayu, it is never about Meritocracy. And some you you hit a nail in the coffin, with his type of resume he will never get a job in Bolehland.

Talent corp is wasting taxpayers money and time, how do you expect to attract Malaysian Talents back and retain them when you cannot guarantee a future for these talents. Meritocracy, performance and opportunity for promotions and business opportunities are one of the main key criteria to stay back in Ketuanan Melayu land. So UMNO don’t take us for a ride with your Talent Corp bullshit. All I can see is that Talent Corp is another gimmick to siphon Taxpayers money.

Sunday, 18 November 2012 10:58 posted by Ibrahim

He acted firmly and in the public interest. ..

An excellent tribute. In Malaysia, if we can get 10% of the qualities mentioned in this tribute, we would be honored. Esp. When that Mamak who is really a Syaitan, tore the independence, professionalism & integrity of the Malaysian Judiciary to pieces.

Now we have only a Judiciary and AG Chambers completely compromised and without any more conscience esp. when Dealing with dissent and opposition to UMNO.

Following a public uproar to the widespread crackdown on two pro-democracy rallies held by electoral reform movement Bersih 2.0, Najib has taken great pains to improve civil liberties in Malaysia. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak signed ASEAN’s first human rights declaration (AHRD) in Cambodia today, officially committing Malaysia to its first foreign convention to promote fair treatment of every individual irrespective of race, religion and political opinion.

Today’s signing, which took place during the 21st ASEAN Summit at the Peace Palace in the capital city of Phnom Penh, comes at an opportune time for Malaysia and the Barisan Nasional (BN) government led by Najib, which has come under close international scrutiny for its alleged mishandling of several recent human rights issues.

“ASEAN shall pursue the protection and promotion of human rights in the region in our own way and also try to maintain the highest standard as expressed in various declarations and instruments of the international community,” ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan was quoted as saying in The Star Online.

According to media reports, the AHRD has a total of 40 clauses and covers areas like civil and political rights, economic, social ad cultural rights, developmental processes and peace enhancement.

The declaration also states that the rights of women, children, elderly and disabled persons and migrant workers are integral and indivisible part of human rights and fundamental freedom, The Star reported.

Najib has found himself in the international spotlight on numerous occasions, taking the hit for his administration’s alleged heavy-handedness in dealing with matters concerning civil freedom, individual rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.

Some key examples include the widespread crackdown on two pro-democracy rallies held by electoral reform movement Bersih 2.0 — one on July 9, 2011, and another on April 28 this year — which resulted in scene of chaos and violence on the streets of this usually peaceful capital city.

To dull the uproar, however, Najib has taken great pains to improve civil liberties in Malaysia, even agreeing to repeal the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Sedition Act, enacting a new law to regulate public gatherings, agreeing to allow student participation in politics and relaxing provisions in laws governing press freedom.

But after the last protest on April 28, foreign media reports predicted that the government’s handling of the event would likely undermine Najib’s image as a reformist and force the prime minister to delay the next general election.

Several newswires, picked up by major newspapers globally, also took the same stance, with Reuters reporting that police action raised “the risk of a political backlash that could delay national polls which had been expected as early as June.”

Agence France-Presse also said that “the rally poses a dilemma for Najib, who since last year’s crackdown has sought to portray himself as a reformer, launching a campaign to repeal authoritarian laws in a bid to create what he called ‘the greatest democracy’.”

Several reports pointed to the first Bersih rally held just months before the March 2008 elections, which saw BN record its worst electoral performance ever, ceding its customary two-thirds supermajority in Parliament and five state governments.

Najib took over from Tun Abdullah Badawi a year later, ostensibly to improve on the results and some observers say only a return to two-thirds majority will guarantee he remains Umno president.

Widespread condemnation from the international press of Putrajaya’s crack down on last July’s Bersih rally saw Najib announce a raft of reforms including a parliamentary select committee on electoral reforms and the Peaceful Assembly Act, a major concession to win back an alienated middle-class.

But the findings of a bipartisan panel have been criticised as cosmetic by civil society and the opposition and yesterday’s planned sit-in was the first major test of the new law regulating demonstrations the BN chief says abides by “international norms”.

The foreign press had at the time also widely carried global civil liberties watchdog Human Rights Watch’s criticism of the government, saying it showed “contempt for its people’s basic rights and freedoms.”

“Despite all the talk of ‘reform’ over the past year, we’re seeing a repeat of repressive actions by a government that does not hesitate to use force when it feels its prerogatives are challenged,” said Phil Robertson, its deputy Asia director.

Apart from Bersih, the BN administration has also earned itself international condemnation for bringing charges of sexual misconduct and sodomy against Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim numerous occasions, a move that the leader’s supporters have claimed was merely to stifle his campaign to topple the ruling pact.

Several cases of deaths in custody over the past few years had also cast the government in the spotlight for alleged human rights abuses. One example is the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock, whose death, which occurred while he was under the care of anti-graft officials, has continued to haunt the government since 2009.

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But the Bar Council gets no flak eh? The Bar Council needs to hammer BN too, even sue BN for APARTHEID and lack of :

Najib alone cannot be blamed but is definitely complicit. If all other agencies did their work, Najib would be out of work. UN needs to address the bunch of racists affecting Najib’s judgment. Signing this does not change the above 3 lacks. Bar Council being so supposedly educated and ‘legal’ can see this. Act yet? Or still waiting for moi to sue the Malaysian Government?

(TMI) — Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang appeared today to admit that PAS may never entirely abandon its plans to impose hudud for Muslims and had only softened its approach on the matter as the Islamist party knew it could not rule without its non-Muslim allies in Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

But the PAS president offered his word that if implemented, the controversial Islamic penal code would not be imposed on the non-Muslims, shooting down a suggestion yesterday by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“And the rights of non-Muslims are allowed by their own religion … for example, liquor is allowed by their religion … although it is haram in Islam, it is still their right.”

Dr Mahathir had stepped into the hudud fray yesterday, challenging the party to implement hudud for all, including the non-Muslims, in order to be fair.

During the stretch of the party’s annual meet this weekend, the PAS leadership seemed to deliberately dodge the issue of hudud and the party’s Islamic state ideals, moving instead to appear more inclusive with slogans that advocate religious tolerance and acceptance.

But the party’s religious conservatives in the ulama wing and youth members insisted on raising the controversial issue, which has put a strain on PAS’ ties with PR ally DAP.

In his policy speech at the opening of the muktamar, Abdul Hadi focussed on PAS’ plans to improve Malaysia’s economy should PR come to power and skirted around hudud and the implementation of the Islamic state.

But the veteran politician could not avoid the matter today, after PAS continued to find itself the target of critics who complained of the party’s apparent failure to stick to its ideals.

He would not expressly state if PAS would push ahead with its hudud agenda but appeared to suggest that the matter had to be shelved for the sake of its non-Muslim partners in PR.

“We want to rule a country, if it’s just PAS, then it will be impossible (for us) to rule,” he told reporters.

The Marang MP’s remarks today will likely draw more criticism from PAS’ political foes who have often accused the party of straying from its Islamic ideals and bowing down to its allies for the sake of wresting federal power.

PAS also reiterated today that there is no friction between the party and DAP, with which they have gone into collision course on issues such as Islamic state and hudud.

“Don’t equate them disagreeing over hudud, with them rejecting (Islam). It is not the same.”

Abdul Hadi’s statements came after PAS’s religious wing continued to reaffirm its stand on hudud, insisting that it should be implemented if the party wins a significant majority in the next election.

“So far, hudud is still relevant,” said Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamad, the Deputy Chief of PAS Ulama wing during the closing speech at the muktamar.

“We will implement hudud in a democratic system if we win a lot of seats. It is not impossible that hudud can be implemented in Malaysia.”

Mahfodz reminded the PAS leadership that they should not forget Islam and hudud while they fight through the next campaign stage to reach Putrajaya.

“A ‘benevolent state’ must be based on the Quran, sunnah and ijtihad … not the -isms which contradict Islam,” he added.

This remark followed the information chief for the women’s wing, Aiman Athirah’s call for delegates to work harder so that PAS can lead Pakatan Rakyat (PR), and for President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to be elected as the prime minister if the party wins in the next election.

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Dials? Whats that an NLP ‘trigger word’, code? Anyway, good to hear that Hudud might not be summarily imposed on Malaysians BUT . . .

Hadi may want to consider if Muslims will be allowed Article 18 of the UN Human Rights Charter rights to Apostasy, and the Non-Muslims will be allowed EQUALITY in all aspects of Law and Constitution, and also for non-Muslims to have RLD and Gambling districts in suitable places in state capitals of appropriate size AS WELL as OPZs (Organic Psychedelic Zones) like Amsterdam has. There are SERIOUS gaps in Hadi’s address and acceptance of PMship, which while tolerable if the above issues are made clear, cannot precede PAS taking up the mantle of the ruling party much less neglect Orang Asli stolen land issues as well as forced conversions of non-Muslims, continuation of Bumiputra Aparthied (perhaps INCLUDE all non-Malays and non-Muslims of a certain wealth level who are willing to apply BUT under no sneak conversion tactics or attempts at proselytization) etc..

Conversely Bumiputra Apartheid could be ended entirely, millions worth Bumi should not get any discounts or special privileges at all, while the poor non-Muslim and non-Malays in fact should. This is a money issue and to ignore politics of non-Muslim rights and equality, this becomes a display of PAS’s inward lookingness and sheer neglect of common sense and civilisation that a PM of any country needs. No problem if Hadi is made PM, but not without address of the above which are innate rights of ALL MANKIND and neglected for oppressive purposes for decades in Malaysia. Malaysia is a single country within the nations of a world, and not a very large or powerful country, needs to address issues as above.

To show he meant business, PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hasan yesterday laid bare his personal assets during the winding down speech at the wing’s muktamar.

Nasrudin, 42, declared that he and his wife, a teacher, both draw an income of RM2,800 and RM4,000 respectively.

He also declared that he had RM9,000 in his bank account.

Out of his monthly RM2,800 income, RM2,500 is allowance from the party for his duties as PAS Youth chief while RM300 is rental income.

The father of six also tabled the breakdown of his monthly expenses comprising of a home loan at RM530 and his vehicle for which he pays RM1,400 monthly.

“Meanwhile my wife is paying loan for her own house at RM1,230 a month. These are the assets I am declaring, that I owned, as a gimmick for the assets declaration proposal, insha Allah that will be followed by all PAS Youth exco members,” he said.

PAS Youth had earlier announced that its executive council members including those not contesting in the coming general election would have to declare their assets.

During the opening of PAS Youth’s general meeting, party deputy president Mohamad Sabu gave his commitment to turn the proposal into a reality, but reminded that assets declaration must also be made at the end of one’s office term.

-Harakahdaily

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Don’t do the Rakyat no favours. Declaring assets is NOTHING AT ALL. Try ending apartheid or extreme religion and even distributing land or housing to the poor OF ALL RACES. Assets only? Big deal? At end of term? WORSE deal. Hiding ‘abit’ is hiding all the same. Why not declare NOW instead of months away so that ‘assets’ can be hidden by then? Who cares if assets are declared AFTER the term? BEFORE the term starts would be meaningful for asset declarations, but ONLY AFTER terms end? Cynical and obviously stalling for time.

ARTICLE 6

Possibly inaccurate but will post to see if any response that can clarify . . .

Theory? Or Truth?

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My theory based guess is that drugs are in fact USED by politicians to astrally project so that they can peek in on others and gain advantage against them, if not illegal cams have been installed everywhere already. Look at the colours the podium speaker is wearing here, Rasta colours. Who knows those with minds too strong will be targeted by GOVERNMENT, or political drug users, which possibly are typical of ALL so-called or organized religions. The hierarchy of religions could well be based around drug taking and hence the desire to illegalise drugs so that the will of the world becomes that of their narrow limited and religious biased one. Perhaps these are not religious men, perhaps these are ADDICTS intent on religious and political control using drugs as a weapon of choice. Please feel free to discuss if the premise is off, or warn to remove if considered offensive – suggestions of a more suitable repost will be appreciated if needed.

A GROUP of transvestites in revealing outfits was detained by religious authorities for trying to offer sexual services.

Sinar Harian reported that they were spotted waiting for customers in Pandan Indah, Kuala Lumpur.

The six transvestites ran helter-skelter when they saw an enforcement team from the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) and officers from the Al-Azim mosque making their rounds at 5am on Thursday.

It was learnt the transvestites charged as low as RM50.

Al-Azim mosque officer Ahmad Nawi Osman said some of the transvestites suffered light injuries when they fell while running up a flight of stairs.

“All of them, aged between 20 and 38, were arrested,” he said, adding that one transvestite disclosed that it was difficult to find work and gain acceptance in society, causing him to resort to such a job.

> Kosmo! reported that the body of a missing two-year-old boy had been found. The body was believed to have been partly eaten by a monitor lizard.

Hadziq Hassan, missing since last Saturday, was found in Segaliud, Sandakan, on Wednesday night.

A surveyor, who was working in the area, made the discovery.

The boy was reported missing at Batu 25, Kampung Garinono after he and his family attended a relative’s wedding in Kampung Manis.

His body was found about 3km from the relative’s house.

Sandakan OCPD Asst Comm Rowell Marong said the body was identified by his family and was sent to the Duchess of Kent Hospital for an autopsy.

> A total of 26 foreign women, including four underaged girls, were detained by the Negri Sembilan Immigration Department for allegedly working as guest relations officers, reported Harian Metro.

The four Vietnamese girls, aged between 14 and 16, were believed to have been tricked into taking up the job at an entertainment centre in Seremban.

State immigration director Faizal Fazri Othman said three of the four girls entered the country using a visitor’s pass while the other girl used a student pass.

Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this > sign, it denotes a separate news item.

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Adult services are a human right of non-Muslims and if these transpersons were not Muslim, they should be left alone at least while legal action to ensure proper zones are assigned for such activities for non-Muslims. Luck? These are human rights abuses.

However, he acknowledged that Nik Aziz had been advised by his doctor to go for a check-up every day to treat a “prostate problem”.

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A potential core elite of statesmen, at least in ensuring of separation of powers. Karpal unfortunately represents endemic nepotism and limitless terms as well. Hence Sallehuddin and Datuk Mahfuz Omar have become that much more statesmanlike (do these exceptions stand AGAINST Hudud?) If so, we might be looking at future PMs . . . ) than Karpal, even if the above suggestion which came from moi, was taken up by Karpal. TERM LIMITS and NO FAMILY BLOCS ‘KARPAL’. Any ‘Karipap’ (or Al-Karipap? Karpal . . . ) seller could run for election and win, simply by democratic considerations against nepotism and limitless terms of Karpal and sons. This is GOVERNMENT not a family business.

The Malaysian police know I live in Manchester. Malaysians in the UK know I live in Manchester. Malaysians in Australia, New Zealand, the US, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc., know I live in Manchester. The Malaysian High Commission in London and the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur know I live in Manchester. Only Victor Lim alone thinks I live in Dr Mahathir’s apartment in London. He knows that but he does not know what the address is or whether Dr Mahathir really does own an apartment in London.

The most valuable part of a democratic and pluralistic society is the right to choose. Everyone can choose to support anything they think is right.

The United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) rally scheduled on November 25 with the objective to pressure the government is a choice of struggle. The United Chinese School Teachers Association (Jiao Zong) and the Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia (Hua Zong) have the right not to participate and choose to correct the unreasonable content in the National Education Blueprint preliminary report through communication and follow-up.

Similar to anti-environment movements, some people chose to take part in the 300km Kuantan-KL Green Walk. Their persistence and perseverance has won respect and admiration.

In politics, people also have the right to choose whether to change the government, strengthen the two-party-system or maintain the status quo.

Changing the government is an ideal and it can hardly become a reality if only a small number of people are supporting it. Therefore, the ruling and alternative coalitions must convey their political programmes and policies to the public through various platforms, including mass assemblies and annual general assemblies to fight for more support.

To me, the Pakatan Rakyat’s performance has not yet reached my personal demand. However, as I believe that democracy requires checks and balances, I support the two-party system. If the majority supports the two-party system, it is possible to bring a major change.

In a democratic country, everyone has the right to choose based on his/her own judgement and cognitive thinking. Therefore, it is not necessary for others to be so nervous or intimidate them into changing their stand.

Many people are confused about the meaning of democracy due to the intense political struggle. Some people are excessively fanatical to the extent of slandering and labelling those who have made a different choice.

French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher Voltaire said, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Who can still remember the words? Many people have instead lost their magnanimity and tolerance and attack whoever say something unpleasant. Democracy should never be like this.

All people make mistakes, regardless of how just they claimed themselves are. Calling themselves just does not mean that they cannot be criticised and corrected.

The BN has indeed made many mistakes and there is much room for improvement. Similarly, the Pakatan Rakyat state governments also have many inadequacies in governance. Being overly emotional has caused everyone unable to see the reality clearly.

Back to the Dong Zong rally, it is a peaceful civil demonstration and it is not necessary to label it as an “anti-government” movement. Adopting the path of dialogue to fight is not “heinous crime” either. Why can’t the Chinese organisations work together to achieve the same goal since all of them are serving the Chinese community? Without tolerance and the sense of balance, it could end up following the path of politics, namely people categorise those who are not called friends as enemies.

Most Chinese affairs are of voluntary or conscience nature. If it evolves into a life-and-death game, the Chinese community will first collapse before the winner of the political game is decided.

Life was boring and monotonic in the past when people were not granted the right to choose. It is good to have choice. But choices also bring us confusion and distress.

As the general election is approaching, people become more and more impetuous. We must first calm down to avoid being diverted by “choices”.

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The day Najib outfoxed all Malaysians…

Victor Lim, Free Malaysia Today

Now, wasn’t it Daim who predicted that five states would fall prior to the 2008 political tsunami? And it was correct – Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.

And who and where this prediction was first publicised? Raja Petra Kamarudin’s (RPK’s) Malaysia-Today (MT) news portal.

Malaysians who have been following RPK’s writings were shocked, when after the 2008 general election, he began associating himself with Mahathir – meeting his sifu (master) in his Petronas twin-tower office.

Many could not understand or believe how RPK, who was so vocal against BN-Umno and one of the pioneers of the Free Anwar Reformasi Movement, could make such an about turn.

Many MT readers are still puzzled and cannot believe what was happening and why RPK’s writings started to slant towards Umno.

However, RPK’s slant is now cautiously back to the Opposition, championing the need to change? What’s going on? Simple! The cyber mercenary writer is financially backed by Mahathir and Daim.

In 2008, Mahathir and Daim’s common political pest was Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. So, RPK’s mission was to destabilise and erode support for Umno and Abdullah. It worked wonderfully, and as they say, the rest is history.

Now, Mahathir and Daim’s common political enemy is Najib. And do you now see the similar strategic political attacks from Mahathir and RPK?

If you still don’t believe that Mahathir and Daim are RPK’s sponsors, then you give me the answers to the following questions:

* RPK was the one who came up with the damning statutory declaration that implicated Najib and his wife, Rosmah, in the murder of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu and the link to the Scorpene submarines’ graft allegations. Why?

* RPK was picked up by police and then charged. But after he was released on bail, how the hell did such a high profile political figure leave the country undetected?

* Who had the power and influence to facilitate his (RPK’s) migration? This was what I posted about RPK on Sept 10, 2012.

Talk is spreading like wild fire in Malaysia that the famous or infamous cyber operator, depending on which side of the political divide you stand, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, or more popularly referred to as RPK, is residing in an apartment in London belonging to the racist former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed.

RPK can feel free to clarify or attack me as we believe in freedom of speech and democracy, don’t we?

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When the issue favours the Chinese cause, they will scream democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of choice, the right to choose, agree to disagree, and so on. However, if it does not favour the Chinese cause, they will scream you are a turncoat, traitor, Trojan horse, frog, mole, you have been bought, and much more.

That is the ugly side of the Chinese. Freedom means freedom to agree with me, not freedom to disagree with me.

To people like Victor Lim, if you say or write anything that is perceived as pro-government, then this means you have been paid to do so. What about those who say or write something perceived as pro-opposition? Does this not also mean you have been paid to do so?

No! It does not. That just means you are noble. Those who support the opposition are noble. And if you do not support the opposition that can only mean one thing — you support the government. It is like religion. Either you are a Muslim or you are a Christian. And if you are not a Christian then you must surely be a Muslim. That is the only logical explanation.

To Victor Lim, your very action of not supporting the opposition is ‘evidence’ you have been paid. Using that same yardstick as ‘proof of guilt’, we will have to assume that Victor Lim is also a paid writer and his master must surely be Tian Chua. Can we, therefore, accept whatever Victor Lim says as the truth? Paid writers like Victor Lim would definitely lie through their teeth.

Victor Lim says he believes in democracy and freedom of speech. But when I exercise my democratic right of freedom of speech he vilifies me. The Malays call this bikin tak serupa cakap. Is this a Chinese cultural thing or what? Is this the best the so-called 5,000 years of Chinese ‘civilisation’ can produce? You appear puzzled as to why very few Malays trust the Chinese. Well, that’s because the Malays know that bikin tak serupa cakap type of people just cannot be trusted.

Probably 50 or more Malaysians have come to my house in Manchester, many of them Malaysians from Malaysia. Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, Zaid Ibrahim, Mat Sabu, Saari Sungib, and many more have all been to my house — some even spent the night at my house.

There are many more Malaysians from London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham, Reading, Scotland — in fact, from almost every city in the UK — who have visited me in Manchester. Yet Victor Lim says: Raja Petra Kamaruddin, or more popularly referred to as RPK, is residing in an apartment in London belonging to the racist former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed.

And he can’t even get the spelling of my name right. It is Raja Petra Kamarudin and not Raja Petra Kamaruddin. And what Free Anwar Reformasi Movement is Victor Lim talking about? Clearly Victor Lim tembak only. There is so such movement called Free Anwar Reformasi Movement. This is a fabrication by Victor Lim.

Anyway, what is the address of Dr Mahathir’s apartment? Does Dr Mahathir even own an apartment in London in the first place? And when did I move in to that apartment?

So you see, Victor Lim is bullshitting because I have never lived in London (at least not since 1956), never mind in whose apartment in London. I have been living in Manchester since the day I arrived. In fact, my family has been living in Manchester for 11 years now, since 2001, eight years before I came over.

The Malaysian police know I live in Manchester. Malaysians in the UK know I live in Manchester. Malaysians in Australia, New Zealand, the US, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc., know I live in Manchester. The Malaysian High Commission in London and the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur know I live in Manchester. Only Victor Lim alone thinks I live in Dr Mahathir’s apartment in London. He knows that but he does not know what the address is or whether Dr Mahathir really does own an apartment in London.

Can you see how they lie? And to these types of people lying comes under the category of freedom of speech. But if you were to reply to that lie, that is not considered freedom of speech. Freedom of speech means they can say things about you but you can’t say things about them.

Budaya apa ni? Budaya 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation ke?

Victor Lim also said: Malaysians who have been following RPK’s writings were shocked, when after the 2008 general election, he began associating himself with Mahathir – meeting his sifu (master) in his Petronas twin-tower office.

In fact, in the 2006 PKR annual general assembly in Penang, Azmin Ali whacked me in his speech. And Anwar Ibrahim sat there on stage smirking like the cat that had swallowed the canary as Azmin Ali whacked me for ‘bersekongkong dengan Dr Mahathir Mohamed’.

Hence, if you want to accuse me of ‘collaborating’ with Dr Mahathir then this collaboration started more than six years ago and two years before the 2008 general election. And if I had collaborated with Dr Mahathir more than six years ago and two years before the 2008 general election, how can I be a turncoat? A turncoat is someone who changes sides. I never changed sides after the 2008 general election. I have been with Dr Mahathir since two years BEFORE the 2008 general election.

And do you know what? Many PAS and DAP leaders — and many of them top leaders at that, too — also attended that 24th June 2006 dialogue with Dr Mahathir. Even the ex-PKR Deputy President turned up. So what have you got to say about all those PAS, DAP and PKR leaders who attended that dialogue with Dr Mahathir organised by Malaysia Today at the Kelab Century Paradise on 24th June 2006?

In the Kota Bharu dialogue the following month, the Kelantan Menteri Besar, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, attended the session and shared the stage with Dr Mahathir. He also attended the dinner in honour of Dr Mahathir that same night. Nik Aziz felt he needed to play host to the ex-Prime Minister since he (Nik Aziz) is, after, all the Menteri Besar of Kelantan.

Maybe the Pakatan Rakyat supporters should learn how to tell the truth for once. You accuse Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, NST, The Star, TV3, RTM, etc. of lying. But what difference are the opposition supporters? You are as blatant in your lying as the people you accuse of lying.

And why do you not respond, point-by-point, to the issues I have raised? I have been raising many issues since the mid-1990s — ever since I first started writing for Harakah in 1997 and I first launched my own website in 1994. What I am saying now is what I have been saying for the last 18 years. What am I saying now that I did not say back in the 1990s?

If I am wrong then rebut me with what you think is the truth. But you don’t do that. Instead of replying, you just hurl allegations against me and totally ignore what I say. And the only ‘rebuttal’ thus far is just a plain denial. Denial is no defence. If it is then Najib Tun Razak never met Altantuya Shaariibuu since he has denied meeting her.

In short, you know what I say is correct and you know there is no way you can rebut what I say. Hence you ignore what I say and do not reply to it and instead make all sorts of allegations, which are very far from the truth.

This is just like those Umno blogs that say I live in London and that one day I was so drunk I fell into a monsoon drain. Many kampong-minded Umno supporters who have never been to London and do not know that the UK does not have a monsoon season and London does not have monsoon drains will, of course, believe this story.

These opposition diehards are just the reverse of the same coin called Umno. They are all cut from the same cloth. Their doctrine is: you are free to agree with me but God help you if you say something that I don’t like.

Oh, by the way, take a look at the picture below. Today, some people in PAS are saying that they want Tok Guru Abdul Hadi Awang instead of Anwar Ibrahim to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia if Pakatan Rakyat wins the next general election. I already ‘said’ this four years ago. And if you can’t interpret what that picture means then you are dumber than I thought.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

i) No! It does not. That just means you are noble. Those who support the opposition are noble. And if you do not support the opposition that can only mean one thing — you support the government. It is like religion. Either you are a Muslim or you are a Christian. And if you are not a Christian then you must surely be a Muslim. That is the only logical explanation.

Noble?!? Seeing Pakatan’s 90% failed manifesto lies and ethical or democratic (nepotistic) flaws for what DAP is, is noble. To praise those who support Pakatan as noble – is not noble.

ii) And if you do not support the opposition that can only mean one thing — you support the government.

Inculpating hegelian dialectic thought still eh? Either or? How about ‘none of the above’? Better yet, how about ‘make your own option’ or make your own political party or run for candidacy as an independent candidate. RPK is not a democratic man, and spins propaganda that kills freedom of thought as well as skews facts. Pakatan is a failure as bad as BN. The 3rd Force indies among citizens could likely be better than eithetr BN or PR, so please don;t try to make lies into truth. Money cannot buy breeding as much as breeding cannot buy HONESTY and ETHICS which are prerequisite to the status of NOBILITY. If for love the people RPK, or love for democracy, this sort of article will never appear on media. The readers should know what RPK represents by now.

iii) The ugly side of the Chinese

Apartheid and racism directed at any race, will bring out the very worst of any race. Who threw the first blow here? Not the Chinese. Look in the mirror and decide if racism or apartheid is what reflects . . . Enuff said.

Looks like the Constitutional Lawsuit needs to be carried out by unknowns, to ensure :

Does power always rely on threat? Why is fair mindedness so elusive to some sorry souls?

Man seeks equality and fair treatment, but threats of murder and nasty tricks (like cement pools for the love of semen rather than EQUALITY) are the signs of mental illness and techno-fascism. Fight fair and find that some low minded dhimmitudisation a certain race holds to, have no part of Humanity’s future much like apes who did not use fire, or understand that the Human Rights Charter is not something a country signs for fun, nor being a Muslim allows for such blatant displays of ill meaning natures, bronze souls do not belong in the arena of words (and will be treated to what they deserve) and those with so much who want to take even more from even equality, that will threaten for mere monetary gain, need to talk to the clerics at Al-Azhar University, search their souls at their so-called Kabaa of Islam before threatening people with death which will never be on the side of the unjust and profane . . . are we to understand that there is no religion and only politics and murder in Malaysia and a certain coalition, much less at very least ethics? Everything these UMNO or BN people have today is from the idiotic voting choice of the taxpayers and now these guys dare threaten the 99% who made them? Disappointing.

Let me start by asking you these questions. Does Islam encourage you to devastate the forests? Does Islam encourage you to wipe out your wildlife? Does Islam encourage you to fuck up minority communities (e.g. the Orang Asli)? Does Islam encourage you to venture into business without knowing head or tail of that business? Does Islam encourage you to repeat your mistakes, year in, year out for 20 years? Does Islam encourage you to close your eyes to the rape of your land?

The answer is obvious. Of course, Islam DOES NOT encourage you to do all these things. But I think the Kelantan MB Nik Aziz and his merrymen from PAS have a different understanding than the rest of us.

I first visited Lojing Highlands, Kelantan was in 1991. Nik Aziz was already the MB of Kelantan then. The area was a mess. Vast tracts of forest were being cleared to make way for agriculture. And these were pristine highland forests at elevations ranging from 500m – 1500m. Tens of thousands of hectares were given away to State government linked companies as well as friendly parties to develop highland agriculture.

The state government mantra then was “if the farmers in Cameron Highlands can do it, so can we”. The geniuses in Kelantan at that time thought they could replicate Cameron Highlands which at that time had a total 2000 hectares of agriculture land. They thought if 2000 hectares in CH can produce RM x million revenue, then opening 20,000 hectares in Lojing will produce RM 10x million.

They forgot something very important. The farmers in Cameron Highlands have had 50 years of farming experience in the highlands. Their farms were small, averaging 1 – 2 hectares. They were individual farmers who slogged their butts off for managing even a 2-hectare farm in the mountains was a major undertaking. No sane person will open up thousands of hectares in the highlands to do farming.

I returned to Lojing several times since. 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2007 and 2011. Nothing has changed. Highland forests are continuously being opened up on large scale (obviously the geniuses in Kelantan have not learnt anything about highlands agriculture). Obviously, some people are making tonnes of money from the timber that is being ripped off from the so-called “agriculture land”. The rivers have silted up. Wildlife has disappeared. The Orang Asli communities are worse off than they were 20 years ago.

Hills being ripped off for so-called “agriculture”

Free teh tarik anyone? The once pristine Sg. Brooke and Sg. Belatop are now just mud flows.

Logging is still widespread in Lojing. This is despite the national policy prohibiting logging at elevations above 1000m.

This is where teh tarik comes from. Land opened up for “agriculture” with almost no erosion control measures.

Most of the agriculture development in Lojing have failed. The companies benefitted from selling of the timber from the thousands of hectares of land given to them. The 1000-hectares Yakin tea plantation has been abandoned (yo, you dungus in Nik Aziz’s office – just because Boh can manage a tea plantation, does not mean that you also can. Boh is in that business. You are not. You just plundered that 1000 hectares). PKINK was given over 1000 hectare for orchards and agro-tourism – sampai sekarang habuk pun tak ade.Kayu balak dah lesap.

Land ownership in Lojing Highlands. I am sorry if you can’t read the map. Almost 30,000 hectares have been given away to state-linked companies and state agencies and friendly companies over the past 20 years. Almost zero productivity expect for the timber that has been taken away. Mind you these are all highland country with mostly steep slopes.

A few Chinese farmers from Cameron Highlands who leased small areas from Kelantan state government linked companies are doing pretty well. Other than that, agriculture output from Lojing is minimal – despite it being more than 20 years since Nik Aziz and his merrymen opened and devastated Lojing. None of the state government linked companies and state agencies have produced anything substantial despite wiping out over 20,000 hectares of pristine highland forests Nothing. Kosong. Telor ayam. In every aspect, Lojing has been a disaster.

The environmental cost must be epic. The amount of erosion and sedimentation from Lojing must run into the hundreds of millions of tonnes over the past 20 years. The once gorgeous Sg. Brooke and its tributaries are now nothing but mud flows. An area that was rich in wildlife is now pretty pathetic. Great damage was inflicted onto the Orang Asli communities in Pos Brooke, Pos Hendrop and Pos Blau. All their water sources were destroyed. The forests that they depended for food and other produce were devastated. The orang asli traditional land were given to outsiders or usurped by state agencies.

If you think I am lying, I suggest you take a drive to Lojing. It is just an hour or less from Cameron Highlands. See the damages for yourself. The rape has been going on continuously for more than 20 years.

I would like to end my story by asking Nik Aziz this “Is this Islamic?”

I counted 300 timber trucks on the Gua Musang road coming out of the Lojing area nearly 15 years ago. Still have the photographs….
Little point in condemning the decisions/actions that have lead to the present dire consequences. Perhaps we ought to consider instead how & what can be done to heal the Lojing scar of our apolitical MotherEarth in some truly creative ways.
November 11, 2012 10:05 AM
@CK said…

the way Kelantan is administered is an insult to Islam. Kelantan is now the poorest state in Malaysia, has the highest rape, incest and HIV cases. All the smart Kelantanese have left the state.
November 11, 2012 6:24 PM
@Lisa said…

Everybody did it. When I fly in Europe and look down on the landscape, there is not a single, not a single piece of land undeveloped. Not a single small hill. You can take off from Amsterdam and land in The Prague and you will not find it. I’ve been through this frustration on seeing how our land has been bled since the 90s and cried and wrote to newspapers, but I must say, and I’m sorry but it was pointless.
November 12, 2012 9:11 AM

@Cat-from-Sydney said…

Your Royal Monyetness,
We have visited this place many times and still cry when we see the scars on Mother Earth. Will be there again next week, hopefully with better results as cooperation from the natives is quite difficult to obtain. purrrr….meow!
November 12, 2012 9:17 AM

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Rivers should have a 1km ‘off limits’ buffer or green lung. Water tables perhaps a minimum of 10km worth. As for cultivation or farming, micromanagement is reliant on the ‘energy’ of individuals, so mass produced versions will never have the same quality, or as the article suggests will fail entirely or at least take longer than usual. A farmer of tea has ‘tea energy’, city people without any energy but city energy will not be able to grow anything, and MUST start from microscale (heck some can’t even tend garden) before ‘managing’ massive plantations. Farm conglomerates might possibly be impossible from land alone, the heart and interest of the person MUST be there, or all cultivation will not be comparable. This must also be considered against environment and the spiritual nature of the area a product is from. TEA from an Islamic prayer ‘ridden/infested’ area (Islam strip mines spiritually IMHO, thats why all those forests tend to become deserts or urban deserts wherever Muslims are) and will not be bought by markets, and that is why Chinese neutrality has made so much Chinese produce somehow so buyable, or Thai rice for example (which still has dangerously Buddhist leanings . . . ).

COFFEE from Islamic prayer ‘ridden/infested’ areas like UAE, most of Malaysia or even less secular parts of Indonesia (civet cat pre-pooped or not) will also be doomed to failure, simply because the buyers do not want to be Islamised by proxy. Conversely consider why Brazilian (sea, surf and bootay!) coffee ‘somehow’ seems superior – thats because there are no robed ghosties of locals hovering around the plants after hours with intent to ‘Islamise’. AT least in occult theory informed buyers at least, products from ‘religious’ areas are UNBUYABLE perhaps excepting the ‘Wuwei’ mentality of the Chinese (inaction) that actually improves a product by sheer non-investment of the pathos that other religions infuse their products with! Intent (or NEUTRALITY of intent) gives the product pedigree, and only the most secular producers can win in this game (which is why USA’s fanchises are somewhat ahead, though tainted by Freemasonry to a degree). Spiritual CLEANLINESS/NEUTRALITY of food is CRITICAL for sales assurances.

Tea from fundo heartland Malaysia? Forget that, India and China takes the cake FOREVER instead where tea is concerned. Though coconuts as well from India have the same pollution, the informed had better give the Indian grown coconuts or coconut products a wide berth. The whole gamut of Malaysian products is thus spiritually POLLUTED, and for a generalised (and cautiously presumptuous) example, from experiences at WW2, Austwictz may have just made German products that much more ethical (Nazi SS used alot of occultism, but since they have given up on that, the products PERHAPS are superiorly secular where applicable, though Caucasian obsession with the Aramean faith of Xianity and Xianity’s brand of proselytization could still down them, Judaism’s conversions are far more subtle but equally manipulative to no point as all 3 Monotheisms are Amon-Ra derived which was the invention of the reviled heretic Pharoah in any case – bring back the original faith systems regionally to put an end to the insanity . . .)

Then consider education and religious education (even more dangerous) and here you have the reasons for failures of such and such races. The spiritual hostility/manipulation guarantees failure. Let me say though what Malaysia might be worth – low density/nomadic ORANG ASLI UBAT *from* rainforests that could be worth a fortune, but all Malaysia has now are sprawling grey expanses of prayer blaring in neighbourhoods of backbiting political wannabes filled with greed and hatred towards other races and of course the faux-Arab ulama wannabes harrassing all and sundry with Hudud, all of the above who have who forgotten their beautiful naturistic Orang Asli beginnings.

So much for Malaysia’s viability and uniqueness, just a spiritual colony of the Arabs who already are more known for violent puishments (Hudud limb hacking, beheading), religious insularism (this and that are polluting/polluted these people are beneath us! / different God or Godless so are enemeies immediately/must be cursed to go to Hell (which might be an semi-dream state world as much as Heaven, created from constant inculpation while ALIVE so when dying hallucinates about, or has the inculpated NDE type experience) – luckily there are more people and better tech armed nations to counter thse barbarians), low tolerance to other cultures (eat pork or drink alcohol so entire peoples must be targeted, facilities for processing disallowed etc..) and terrorism (drawing a bomb turban cartoon means innocent people not involved in the 10th Crusade, who have never ever heard of the Prophet must die while on the way to work in a subway or have their Twin Towers collapse) than anything else. Islam is a copy of Xianity which is a copy of Judaism which is a copy of Amon-Ra which was a result of Heretic Pharoah Akenathan’s LAZINESS. Guess those 72 virgins might have been guess who’s fond mirage while struggling in a hellish oasis bordering a desert creating hell on Earth – how about a volcanic region called New Hell in the deepest desert, would be fitting . . .

Islam and Arabism is unique and very distinct, but bloodthirsty, impractical, too martial and not viable for this generation of YoutubeVid/MTV making, subculture studied, politically aware world citizens who’d rather be eating whatever meat of their choice (including PORK), drinking alcohol, smoking pot and contemplating the Universe (while dressed in BDSM fetish wear or Cosplay?) than irritating/trying to destroy peoples, communities, countries (at very last being manipulatively sanctimonious about being vegetarian) that are different from them. Religion belongs to the last millenia, and though religion should be kept alive and have spaces, cannot be allowed to impinge on secular people, legally, spiritually or otherwise. There must be spaces for all even if any group’s beliefs/activities are supposedly illegal to another – with the choice of consent to be part of any community the democratic choice of the individual ABOVE the preference of the state.

GEORGE TOWN- The DAP disciplinary committee will decide the fate of Pulau Tikus assemblyman Koay Teng Hai after he failed to turn up at the recent state assembly meeting.

Penang DAP chief Chow Kon Yeow said the state working committee had decided to refer Koay’s absence at the meeting between Nov 1 and 9 to the disciplinary committee.

Chow said the disciplinary committee will be made up of a five-member panel. They will be drawn from the central executive committee and headed by Tan Kok Wai.

It was reported Koay would also face disciplinary action for ignoring Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s refusal to approve his leave.

He missed the assembly to attend a meeting on the United States Election/Project for Young Political Leaders organised by the US embassy without Lim’s permission. Koay could not be reached for comment.

– New Straits Times

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

F**k DAP. Who cares what DAP thinks? Only the RAKYAT living in Pulau Tikus will decide if the Pulau Tikus adun stays or not! Maybe DAP will be replaced by independent candidates by the next GE. DAP has failed 90% of campaign manifestos and has NEVER addressed APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA.

ARTICLE 14

Yes, you must behave, Bung — Erna Mahyuni – November 22, 2012

Nov 22 — You have to admire the Kinabatangan MP on some level. No other MP gladly puts his foot in his mouth with so much relish, you begin to wonder if his foot is delicious.

Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin in person is an affable man, who prides himself on his “every man” demeanour, and talks more like your drunk uncle than a lawmaker.

The problem is, Bung, is that you’re not just an embarrassing family member but an elected Member of Parliament.

There are expectations that come with the role, unfortunately.

One of them is the realisation that you can’t just say what you want, when you want.

Being an elected representative means there are standards of behaviour we expect you to meet.

At the very least, you shouldn’t swear, in public, especially at one of the people you are hoping votes for you in the next election.

Must I remind you GE13 is just around the corner???We’re all allowed a slip of the tongue once in a while. We’re all human, after all.

The problem with you, Bung, is that you don’t so much “slip”, as much as “stab” with your tongue.??What is unacceptable is that your Barisan Nasional leaders let you get away with your outrageous statements.

That bocor statement you made all that time ago? It was chauvinistic, rude and unacceptable. You didn’t just slur an opposition MP but all women. You have never apologised for that, have you? Don’t get me started on your smart remarks about women drivers.

But your greatest act of chauvinism, Bung, was ignoring the law of the land by refusing to ask permission from your first wife to marry your second. I can understand you were impatient, as your new wife is such a pretty young thing.

Did you forget you’re an elected official? Aren’t elected officials supposed to, you know, follow the rules?

Instead, you hopped off to Thailand for a quickie wedding and, unfortunately, got caught.??Being an MP doesn’t put you above the law.

If anything, you’re supposed to obey and uphold it. ??So it’s a little rich, your defending your right to use the F-word to ‘put someone in his/her place’.

You gave up that right when you took your oath. ??As a representative of the people, you are supposed to be someone we look up to. You are supposed to set an example.

You are supposed to maintain a code of conduct that we expect you to follow, because if you can’t follow it, then why should we???Some people think that calling you out for it in public is ‘sensationalising a non-issue’.

I beg to differ.

In other countries, MPs using foul words in public is frowned upon as well.

People are going to call you names and insult you.

Get used to it. As an MP, you must take the higher ground and ignore those who call you names.

As someone who gets plenty of insults on Twitter and in my column’s comments, I understand the need to vent.

But Twitter isn’t the place for it, Bung, and you know that.

All we’re asking from you is that you show a little class and save the F-word for occasions when half of Malaysia can’t hear you.

So behave, Bung.

Or we’ll have no qualms whatsoever not to vote for you or anyone you champion.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Erna versus Bung . . . polygamy is not exclusively a preserve OR punching bag of any culture (ancient or modern), and more an expression of individuals in relation to other individuals commitment in numbers more than 2 . . . Radin or Raden btw is an ORIGINAL Indonesian name, without Islam’s/Arab’s influence. So at least 1 person in the MALAY Dewan has 2/3rds of a truly Nusantaran name . . .

WHAT? Even most adults of the day do not ask their parents if they can marry who and who, much less a wife, though consultations may take place.

There must be though certain courtesies that the civilised 2nd wife should respect AFTER marriage that a blackball by society can retaliate by at very most if they do not treat the first wife with general respect as expected in society (i.e. ‘CHIVALRY’ to the first wife, like pouring drinks or opening doors – this politeness contrived or not is for the pleasure and dignity of the HUSBAND btw.

The second wife should defer to the first wife in certain ways such as not being ‘competitive’ or not being arrogant (the begum of the harem must be respected because families are built around seniority based hierarchy to a degree – even if the first wife is not well studied or very educated or even pretty etc. . . . MANNERS makes for attractiveness and a dignified family), though the first wife may by reason that sex is available from the second or subsequent, refuse at reasonable intervals not more than 50% (or 66% in the case of 2 wives) of what was asked for in the past by the husband – barring ageing libidos.

The first wife also remains married to the husband *specifically* for the face of the children hereon, even in the case of chilled relations between her and the husband. But to ASK PERMISSION to marry? Whats wrong with you Erna?

As discussed in my blog elsewhere, SOME (only some) women experience a change in their bodies after having children, and this can also be a reason to refuse sex, and this also becomes the reason the husband gets a second or subsequent wife. Being a modern woman or even a lesbian or a feminist does not mean that older forms of family do no exist, Erma has not been mixing around alot with polygamous families even as androgamous families are anathema to the polygamous ones. You’re showing your narrow minded side here Erma!

No where Erna’s response is concerned. NO, anyone who has more than one wife NEED NOT behave in the way Erna Mahyuni describes. Erna doesn’t belong in Bung’s society (or harem), not should Erna cast stones at cultures that do not involve Erna. One of Erna’s lines of logic is viable though, MPs need more class AND term limits as well, so in calls for Bung to step down, Erna and moi will be on the same side though not for the same reasons (with Ernha’s reasoning stemming from some inadequacy or simplistic mindset that feels a need to attack Bung’s right to marry freely as much as Bung’s first wife has a right to demand a divorce (which is not happening as of this comment posting at any rate). Inverse jealousy perhaps? Hey there’s always plastic surgery . . .

ARTICLE 15

Muezzin of Pahang state mosque killed in accident – November 17, 2012

KUANTAN, Nov 17 — A muezzin of Sultan Ahmad 1 state mosque was killed in a road accident at the traffic junction near Jalan Tun Ismail here, this morning.

Under unwritten spiritual covenents of all religions, no intent for sneaky proselytization via vocalised psychic intent will be tolerated by ‘God’, or the following of whatever faith. All muezzins should sing with NEUTRALITY and sincerity and ONLY IN SPECIFIC PSYCHIC ADDRESS to consensual Muslims. I even heard a muezzin GARGLING while singing, obviously intended to proselytize that when a person gargles, they are ‘praying’ – this form of dishonesty is as damnable in ‘god’s’ view, as slurred satanic prayers in conventional lyrics in music (also NLP mispronunciations), a parent intentionally encouraging their children to make a ruckus to disturb the neighbours, or inserting ‘convertive symbolism’ in MTVs of any sort.

Ethics in INFORMED CONSENT or else the spirit that made a muezzin a Muslim will depart for the nearest best converted person and the muezzin will be spiritually impacted at least, hurt or even DIE, this could be anyone that hears the muezzin and is converted. The worthiest UNCONVERTED person will receive the ‘spirit’ of the muezzin. Needless to say a muezzin needs to have very clear intent while singing and being heard by so many that are not Muslim or may not even be friendly to Muslims, a muezzin’s job is particularly hazardous as opposed to the Ulama who is heard ONLY by the faithful. The only caveat of safety for the muezzin is an attitude of deference to those auditorily impinged by the prayer, even if just vaguely like a mosquito in the background, the spiritual effects in the astral and ethereal will be potentially quite dangerous. For Prophet had said :

Ayah 203 of Surah A’raaf: “Disrespect and rashness clouds the mind and it is only politeness and respect that brings more divine mercy.’

Singing WITH intent to convert without informed consent is RUDE and Allah will have no protection for those who behave in a disrespectful manner to non-Muslims who are minding their own business before being disturbed by a prayer they didn’t want to hear, disturbing their concentration which is their god given right. Some people (regardless of faith or wealth or position – an ordinary secular citizen, itinerant or beggar, who was asleep or resting enjoying the silence, might have been subconsciously been lending strength to a Mujaheedin in battle before the prayer of the Muezzin woke them up, causing the Mujaheedin to weaken at a critical moment and lose the battle in a critical region of the world where battles for/against Islam are continuing . . . or technical malfunctions in vehicles (even dangerous dimensional or temporal disruptions, releases of EMP type effects that interact with the ionosphere or even the Sun causing Earthquakes or Solar Flares etc..) may even be doing ‘god’s’ work, before a prayer disturbs them and hence god will punish the offender. Prayer by voice rather than loudspeaker though must be fairly tolerated, though again a prayer must not be ‘directed’ at any except to ‘god’ and for Human Rights and Democratic Principle respecting matters preferably.

ARTICLE 16

From Kuantan to Dataran Merdeka: The emancipatory journey for a green Malaysia — Boon Kia Meng – November 22, 2012

NOV 22 — Humans make history; but never in circumstances and situations of their own choosing. This insightful observation by Marx, as he watched over the social upheavals unfolding in Europe in the middle of the 19th century, is a timely expression on what is happening in Malaysia today.

Have Malaysians ever heard of a group of ordinary, fellow Malaysians — our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, our children — marching slowly but surely, on foot, all 300 kilometres of it, rain or shine, from Kuantan to Dataran Merdeka? All united in a common cause: to stop any further environmental degradation in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak, where stopping the Lynas rare earth refinery in Gebeng, and the Murum and Baram dams in Sarawak, constitutes a fundamental demand.

These Malaysian citizens chose to embark on this journey (dubbed “Langkah Lestari”) because for far too long we have collectively as a nation allowed indiscriminate “development” and rapacious capitalistic resource extraction to go on, all in the name of economic growth and wealth creation.

Just witness the rapid decimation of our natural forestry and the displacement of our fellow indigenous Malaysian communities in Sabah/Sarawak and the peninsula. These have become common phenomena and Malaysians know deep inside that the present state of affairs cannot go on indefinitely without irreversible consequences to our common habitat.

It was their spirit and determination that drew me and my friends to join them in their walk for environmental justice. Donning green shirts and a peasant farmer’s hat, we experienced first-hand what ordinary Malaysians can achieve when they organise themselves, a trend that typifies the sea change in people’s attitude and participation in citizenship activism since 2008.

Ordinary mothers arrange lodgings and food distribution, grandpas and grandmas providing moral support with their feet and encouraging words, fathers managing logistic details, while the young, even little children, learn to take their first baby steps in authentic environmentalism and love for the country.

In other words, “Langkah Lestari” epitomises what has been truly essential in any democratic movement for bringing real social change: the twin values of self-organisation and mutual aid. Against these values, no authoritarian state or oppressive regime can stand a chance. Ordinary citizens, learning to organise themselves, little by little, will win the hearts and minds of the majority of the populace.

Make no mistake. The detractors and spokespersons for corporate and vested interests, such as Lynas Corp, will try to justify the viability of their operations on the grounds of economic development and job creation. Malaysian citizens have to judge for themselves whether this “win-win” deal is really beneficial for the country, especially for the residents in Gebeng/Kuantan.

What are Malaysians getting in exchange for the 12-year tax holiday given to Lynas, estimated at RM1.8 billion per annum, not to mention the billions of ringgit of revenue Lynas will generate from these operations? In reality, this is a classic case of neoliberal capitalism in action: the privatisation of profits, whilst socialising the costs, both human and environmental.

In the Lynas case, it is even more farcical, where we have a case of a foreign mining corporation, which is reaping stratospheric profits as a result of the Western Australian mining boom, deciding to externalise its social costs to another country. Instead of acting as protector and guardian of her citizens’ security and well-being, the Malaysian government has abdicated that role for the sake of endless capital accumulation.

It is no wonder that people from all walks of life are seeing through the lies of neoliberal ideology and deciding to leave the sidelines and join this struggle. The patronising dogma of big business that preaches wealth trickling down to the masses is increasingly hollow and losing its ideological hold on the people.

Try telling the Orang Asal brothers and sisters from Sarawak, who are marching daily with their Semenanjung compatriots, on the merits of an unfettered, free market economy that promises prosperity for all. Our indigenous brothers and sisters will tell you about the true face of “economic development”, where countless thousands of them have experienced forced displacement, land grabbing and environmental destruction.

Politicians from both sides wax lyrical about the need for more development and allocation funds for Sabah and Sarawak. They fail to see that uneven development and destruction of traditional forms of living have led to increasing proletarianisation (making them wage-earners, instead of their traditional self-sufficient farming existence) of our indigenous peoples, precisely what a capitalist economy cannot fail but generate.

These are the hard truths made visible by this 300km walk. It forces us to confront the dark, hidden side of our exploitative economy and its unsustainable ecological trajectory.

This brings us back to the significance of this Sunday, November 25, in the history of this nation. The marchers have decided to occupy Dataran Merdeka once they reach there, awaiting the presence of the prime minister and Members of Parliament from both sides of the political divide the very next morning.

Again ordinary Malaysians like them face the arbitrary exercise of state power in the hands of City Hall and the police when the mayor of KL said that no gathering in Dataran is allowed without an application for permit. We know that the upsurge of participation of Malaysians in public protests since Bersih 3.0 is no historical accident. The momentum of people’s movements will only grow stronger and stronger by the day and “Himpunan Hijau 2.0: Langkah Lestari” in Dataran Merdeka this Sunday will be no different. Thousands upon thousands of Malaysians will be there, come what may.

As I sat in the room with our fellow marchers, listening to the children of Bentong sing a song dedicated to their struggle, I felt strangely emotional. It was as if their voices helped us peer into a future of a new Malaysia that is taking shape right before our eyes. Of its shape and detail, no one could tell with any certainty. But one thing is for sure. It will be a Malaysia very different from the present one, burdened by her heavy history of class and environmental exploitation, and ethnic-based political ideologies.

“Those who do not move, do not notice their chains,” the radical democrat Rosa Luxemburg once said. Thank you, participants of Langkah Lestari, for walking and making Malaysians conscious of the shackles that are enslaving us. Thank you, Saudara Wong Tack (the organising chairperson), for reminding all Malaysians that true emancipation lies in our very own hands: “Pilihan di tangan kita!”

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Wildebeest walk even further and every single year of their life, not just once, but only are fodder for Crocodiles of the Nile, the predators along the way. REAL Emancipation is not feeling proud about walking or cycling around mindlessly but fighting for :

The greenest society can form, but if minorities are not equals but dhimmis who subvert intent of the articles and words for freedom and equality, there will be no dignity of life for non-Muslims and in general non-politicians. Pakatan sure has alot of ‘fun’ activities to distract the Rakyat from equality eh? And the biggest cheerleader of this sort of accept Hudud (actually not thats accept ‘Hadi’ but we all know that can become Hudud since hadi has not addressed the concerns of Article 4’s response above) but don’t address Bumiputera b.s. is term limitless, nepotistic DAP . . .

The last performance: RAF war veteran, 92, set to retire after playing his trumpet every Remembrance Sunday for five decades – by Liz Hull – PUBLISHED: 18:48 GMT, 10 November 2012 | UPDATED: 19:53 GMT, 10 November 2012

For half a century Sidney Patterson has played the Last Post at his local church on Remembrance Sunday in honour of Britain’s war dead.

Performing the poignant trumpet call is the 92-year-old’s way of honouring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for Queen and country.

But tomorrow’s rendition at Jesus Church, Troutbeck, in the Lake District, will be particularly moving for the former Royal Airforceman and musician because, after 50 years, it will be his last.

For five decades Sidney Patterson has played the Last Post at his local church on Remembrance Sunday in honour of Britain’s war dead

‘I started playing the Last Post in 1962 and have performed it every year since,’ Mr Patterson, a former lead trumpet with the London Palladium Orchestra, said yesterday.

‘I served in the RAF in the war, so it was just a small thing I wanted to do for all those servicemen who had given their lives for their country.

‘I feel honoured to perform it, but it has been 50 years so I thought I’d better call it a day.’

Mr Patterson, who is married with two grandchildren, learned to play the trumpet as a teenager growing up in Cardiff.

He joined the RAF when he was 18 and served as a leading aircraftman throughout the Second World War.

He was posted to Egypt and Aden, where he serviced Wellington aircraft looking for enemy submarines in the Persian Gulf.

It was during this time that he was asked to join the Band of the RAF Middle East, conducted by Squadron Leader Hugo Rignold, the renowned violinist who later went on to become the musical director of the Royal Ballet, as well as conducting the Liverpool Philharmonic and Birmingham Symphony Orchestras.
Tomorrow’s rendition of the Last Post at Jesus Church in the Lake District, will be particularly moving for the former Royal Airforceman and musician because, after 50 years, it will be his last

Tomorrow’s rendition of the Last Post at Jesus Church in the Lake District, will be particularly moving for the former Royal Airforceman and musician because, after 50 years, it will be his last

‘Both my mother and father were musical – my mother was a singer and my father played the piano, so they sent me off to learn the trumpet when I was about 14,’ he said.

‘I was quite talented at it and when I joined the RAF they asked me if I wanted to join the Band of the RAF Middle East.

‘We went on tours all over, through Palestine and North Africa, to entertain the troops. It was wonderful.’

Mr Patterson left the RAF, aged 26, in 1946 and continued to play with bands at grand venues such as London’s Mayfair Hotel and Grosvenor House, before being asked to play lead trumpet with the London Palladium Orchestra, who provided the live sound track for the acclaimed Sunday Night at the London Palladium television show, hosted by Bruce Forsyth, Jimmy Tarbuck and other famous stars in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

At the same time as performing Mr Patterson trained to be a chiropodist and eventually moved to Kendal to raise his two children with his wife, Morfydd, 85.

Mr Patterson was first asked to play the Last Post by his local British Legion in 1962. Initially, he performed in the church tower, but old age forced him to move to the porch a few years ago

He continued playing his trumpet with a local Big Band in his spare time until he finally retired from music aged 88.

Mr Patterson was first asked to play the Last Post by his local British Legion in 1962. Initially, he performed in the church tower, but old age forced him to move to the porch a few years ago because he could not manage to scale the stone staircase.

‘They used to joke and call me the phantom bugler because no-one could see where I was playing from,’ he added.

‘Nowadays I play the Last Post from the porch. It is a moving piece and I’ve had my trumpet out for the past couple of weeks to practice my scales and get my lips working again so I can do it justice.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The musician’s post in obviously limited positions should be rotated among various persons who want to play. The most competent and most specialised (i.e. plays at many locales and does not have another non-musician job etc..) should be on a list to play. While this would mean that salaries would not be monthly based and personnel could not make a living on being a musician alone, many more people would have a chance to play for military bands. A single person playing for decades shuts out everyone else. If Patterson is replaced by another musician for the same decades long stints, then a lack of democracy would be in effect again.

ARTICLE 2

New dawn? This looks more like a new dusk – by Simon Heffer – PUBLISHED: 22:19 GMT, 7 November 2012 | UPDATED: 09:03 GMT, 9 November 2012

The next four years for America look bleak. It’s not so much a new dawn as a new dusk. And with 50 months left in power, President Obama, his hands tied by a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, is a lame duck already.

He was re-elected despite a majority of voters thinking the economy is on the wrong track. And with tax rises that could wreck recovery due on January 1 – the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ – experts fear a recession here in 2013.

The most sensible policy – which a Romney administration would have pursued – is deficit reduction. Instead, the second Obama term will increase the deficit, further diminishing America’s economic power and credibility.
Lame duck :President Obama, pictured with his wife and daughters at an election night party, has his hands tied by a Republican-controlled House of Representatives

Contradiction: Obama won the election with a decent majority over Romney, despite a majority of voters thinking the economy is on the wrong track

Around $1trillion a year will be added to debt – bringing the total to $20trillion by 2016. This will drive up interest rates on US bonds, and hard-pressed Americans will have to pay more taxes to fund higher interest payments.

Meanwhile, the President is determined to push through his ‘Obamacare’ health insurance policy, which would account for a large part of that increase.

But the Democrats are well aware that the pumping of federal money into corporate bail-outs and infrastructure projects in declining regions is the key to creating a state clientele that keeps voting them back into office.

The administration is already devising stealth taxes to help pay for the bribes it wishes to offer the coalition of minorities that comprise its supporters. Some will corrode the core of American self-reliance, such as taxes on any substantial capital gains made from house sales. Others are simply opportunist, such as a tax on tanning salons.
Commander in chief: Obama was elected by the country to serve another four years in the White House

Obama’s ‘Obamacare’ aims to increase the governments funding of healthcare for Americans, but will cost billions- adding to the crippling debt

These are all measures of how desperate the financial situation is – a reality apparently kept from most of the American electorate, so far.

Washington observers speak of the incompetence of the Obama administration – not just its ability to waste money, but also to target funds so badly. There is very little to show for the $787billion fiscal stimulus of 2009. A fraction of it could have been used to create serious sea defences around New York and New Jersey, to avoid the devastation of last week’s storm, for example.

Sensible: Mitt Romney (seen here with his wife Ann during his election night rally in Boston) would have pursued deficit reduction, which is the most viable option to save America’s economy

Many feel that Super-storm Sandy occurring so close to the election swung many voters in Obama’s favour

Swingeing taxes that fall disproportionately on wealth-creators and entrepreneurs will not be all that stalls an economic recovery. So too will a failing national infrastructure whose state of disrepair is beyond pork-barrel handouts from Washington to local communities, but requires a big federal programme – and big federal money.

Roads, rail and airports all cry out for investment and improvement. But as long as money is thrown at failing industries – such as in the car industry bail-out that helped Mr Obama win Ohio and Michigan this week – the administration cannot afford to take big strategic decisions such as these.

The domestic economy is, however, only the beginning of Mr Obama’s problems. The Republicans will do all they can in the House to obstruct high-spending and socially damaging policies – creating legislative deadlock.

And as America subsides into a welfarist, subsidy culture, so will its paranoia about China – already running at near-hysterical levels in some manufacturing regions – grow. America increasingly fears China both as an economic and a military titan – the two components of being a superpower.

Defence cuts in America are inevitable once the borrowing binge brings serious damage to the economy – as it will by mid-term, if not before – and that will increase the nation’s sense of vulnerability towards the Chinese.

And America’s intractable unemployment problem – it was 8 per cent when President Obama assumed office and is 7.9 per cent now – is increasingly perceived as the result of a highly disciplined and well-trained workforce in China that systematically undercuts over-regulated American business.

Mr Obama must choose a new Secretary of State. Hillary Clinton – who may well run for the Democratic nomination in 2016 – has signalled a wish to stand down. Whoever succeeds her – and a favourite is John Kerry, who lost the 2004 presidential election to George W Bush – has to deal with Iran’s determination to become a nuclear power, and that state’s continuing threats against Israel.

The human cost of such a conflict would be terrible, and American diplomacy might not be equal to preventing either Israel or Iran choosing to strike at the other.

Less widely appreciated is the catastrophic effect it would have on the global economy through oil prices, and especially on an America that is already hobbling.

Team: Obama called Biden ‘America’s happy warrior’ as he paid tribute to his role in the election campaign

Obama’s supporters claim the worst is over, and the best is yet to come.

Such clichés patronise not merely the American public who, by re-electing him, have chosen the soft option rather than a confrontation with economic reality. They also patronise a substantial part of the developed world that, even if it no longer looks to America for political leadership, relies for its standard of living on the US being economically strong.

On the evidence of the past four years, notably Mr Obama’s record of serial economic incompetence, the next four are going to be exceptionally trying – and, sadly, not just for Americans.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Just moi? Or is Dailymail exhibiting so subtle a racism that even the targets could appreciate racism. Dusk = darkness = . . .

Sometimes human conflict is not the issue but when ‘fanatics’ (heres one with all the winks and nudges Dailymail might appreciate . . . ) are going to infiltrate the country and pull a 911 or a Subway bomb (really hope these are not CIA and MI6 contrived agitprop to further an Orwellian state), Obama joining in such a conflict is the least of humanity’s problems. Perhaps in the interest of preserving genetic propensities that might be inserted into the correct ‘warriors’ in the distant future, warzones should be created for these sorts to retire to. Evil Microstates for ‘fanatics’ anyone? Can’t imagine a faith’s peoples being barred from entering such and such states, but this might well be the best bet if USA wants to ‘keep safe’. Tourists are just too disingenuous to overlook, and Muslim Tourists are an oxymoron if anything in so many ways.

There will be a permanent chilling of relations hereon but human cost of conflict will continue so long as oppressive governments are allowed to frustrate their citizens entertainment wise, and politically, or bore their citizens with theocracy into mindless obedience (there is nothing else but prayer, so killing and dying would be a release to would be terrorists) reacting with violence. Religion does that, ESPECIALLY Islam or any religion that denies pleasure or recreation or refuses to legalise organics psychedelics, RLDs and distribute wealth and land equitably (Occupy Movement, various Riots in Western nations) instead of sharing and allowing FUN.

The world without religion, but lots of fun activities, interesting food and drugs to try out (under medical supervision so that no ODs occur, then again if they die, no loss either – self inflicted), and no need to work may not be very much for a capitalist, fascist or moralist to play with (Theocrats tend to be fascist moralists and are surrounded by trappings of extreme Capitalism . . . ) and who needs these nuts, but there will always be pockets of ambitions and technologically inclined that will not need war at that point to progress mankind even as everyone else lounges around. As for war and invasions, the 2nd Amendment should extend to ownership of military grade weapons and craft. If every 10 billion-and-above-aire were required to maintain and own an air craft carrier or every billionaire wee required to own a Cruiser class vessel, the lack of weapons issue would not be a problem. If every citizen above 18 drove a Tank or APC, or owned a Howitzer the USA (or planet) would be ‘uninvadable’. But instead we have CITIZENS paying for a police and military which is used to oppress fellow citizens. Think of expansions to the 2nd amendment! Try the response to article 4 link below :

UPDATE 3:03 p.m. King and Pierce County prosecutors are dismissing more than 220 misdemeanor marijuana cases in response to Tuesday’s vote to decriminalize small amounts of pot.

In King County, 175 cases are being dismissed involving people 21 and older and possession of one ounce or less. I-502 makes one ounce of marijuana legal on Dec. 6, but King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg decided to apply I-502 retroactively.

“Although the effective date of I-502 is not until December 6, there is no point in continuing to seek criminal penalties for conduct that will be legal next month,” Satterberg said in a statement.

The dismissed cases involved arrests in unincorporated King County, as well as the state highways and the University of Washington. About 40 of the cases had already been filed in court as criminal charges; those charges will be dismissed. Another 135 cases were pending charging decisions and will simply be returned to the arresting police agency.

Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said he was dismissing “about four dozen” pending cases where misdemeanor marijuana was the only offense. He said his staff was continuing to prosecute other cases where possession was secondary to a more serious charge, such as drunken driving.

“The people have spoken through this initiative,” said Lindquist. “And as a practical matter, I don’t think you could sell a simple marijuana case to a jury after this initiative passed.”

In an interview, Satterberg said his office would continue to prosecute marijuana possession above one ounce, allowing for “a buffer for those whose scales are less than accurate.” His office also charges felony possession — for people with more than 40 grams — although he said his staff routinely allows those defendants to plead down to a misdemeanor.

“I think when the people voted to change the policy, they weren’t focused on when the effective date of the new policy would be. They spoke loudly and clearly that we should not treat small amounts of marijuana as an offense,” he said.
I-502 campaign manager Alison Holcomb said she was “incredibly moved” by Satterberg’s announcement, which she said showed “incredible courage.”

The decision supports a prime argument I-502 made during the campaign. A study by a group of academics found there had been 241,000 misdemeanor marijuana possession cases in Washington over the past 25 years, 67,000 of them in the past five years. “If 502 hadn’t passed, we’d see the same amount of marijuana possession cases every year,” she said. “What makes a difference is changing the law.”

Satterberg is the first prosecutor to change charging policy after I-502, but other prosecutors are also considering these cases. Tom McBride of the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys said his office “just starting to work through those issues.”

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes has refused to prosecute misdemeanor possession cases since he took office.

Earlier this week, the chief criminal deputy prosecutor in Spokane County, Jack Driscoll, appeared to take a more conservative position. He told the Spokesman-Review that, even after Dec. 6, the only marijuana which was legal to possess was pot sold in the state-licensed stores called for in I-502. Those stores won’t be created for at least a year.

“The only thing that is legal is selling marijuana through those stores,” Driscoll said. “That will be regulated by the state. You can’t under this initiative have an ounce of marijuana that doesn’t come from a state-issued provider. You still can’t have black-market marijuana.”

Holcomb disputed that interpretation. So did Satterberg, who called it a “very narrow reading” of the initiative. “I don’t know how you trace where (the marijuana) comes from,” he said.
Satterberg said he expected federal authorities to seek an injunction to block implementation of I-502’s state licensing scheme for marijuana retailers and growers. “I think it’s the kind of issue the U.S. Supreme Court will have a final word on,” said Satterberg, calling it an “an important state’s rights issue.”
But he does not expect a federal lawsuit to target the types of cases he is dismissing, noting that states already have widely divergent penalties for marijuana possession.

All they did was smoke something Mother Nature grew for them. Why should they suffer in jail AND at the taxpayer’s expense as well? Finally the justice system is STARTING (only barely, lots of term limitless/collusion/uncontrolled-capitalism/studentdebt-financiar-complex type issues!) making sense.

ARTICLE 4

No holds barred: The professional ‘cuddler’ who makes $260 a day by inviting strangers to take a nap with her at home

Spooning peacefully in a double bed, this pair could be any normal couple on a Sunday morning.

But revisit the scene an hour later and Jackie Samuel will be curled up in the arms of another man.

The 29-year-old is a professional cuddler. She turned to snuggling with strangers to help pay for her studies and provide for her young son.
Comfort zone: Jackie Samuel cuddles her client at The Snuggery in Rochester, New York

She added: ‘Some have said I am worse than a prostitute because they think snuggling is more intimate than sex. I’ve been told I’m monetizing love.’

One of her repeat customers, who would only give his name as Tim, disagrees with her critics.

He said Jackie’s cuddles had helped him following a bad break-up and described the sessions as ‘meditative’.

He even said he would continue to see her while in a relationship.

‘There’s no cheating element, it’s not immoral,’ he said.

Little spoon: But Jackie draws the line at intimate touching

Bedtime reading: Jackie says she has a number of repeat customers

Jackie cuddles up to 30 men a week as well as a number of women

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This is just to HOLD, not ‘HAVE’. Auric prostitution? Different from sexual prostitution. But still prostitution. To each their own then, but considering the price for doing nothing and just sleeping on the job, barring contract caveats to prevent incidental abuse, this is excessive!

ARTICLE 5

The anorexic statement

Trust me, notice me, feed me: every female body conveys a message. So, when a woman starves herself, what is she saying? – by Rachel Cusk Published 31 October 2012

I knew a woman whose job it was to take anorexics to the swimming pool. She was an occupational therapist: eating disorders were her field. She worked at a nearby clinic and we bumped into one another from time to time.

I found myself curious about her work, or more truthfully about her patients, those singular modern-day martyrs to the cause of their own bodies. Without quite knowing why, as I have grown older I have become more interested in – it could even be said, more respectful of – what might be called the anorexic statement. Perhaps it’s because, as the 45-year-old English mother of two children, my body has little power of provocation or utterance; or rather, that what it’s said or tried to say through the years hasn’t seemed to have added up to all that much. Quite what constitutes the anorexic statement I’m not entirely sure. All the same, it has a great power of disruption. It’s a stray spoke under the wheel of things that otherwise have the capacity to hurtle on headlong: family life, fashion, the destiny of the female body. The statement might be: help me. Or it might simply be: stop.

My therapist acquaintance herself had not been allowed to be picky in life, growing up in a family of brothers on a farm in the Australian outback. She knew how to shoot, drive a tractor, ride a horse bareback. She had left that rough home and come to the UK, where every couple of years for the sake of change she moved job and town – Slough, Birmingham, Chelmsford – though her solitude and her line of work did not alter. She neither sought nor seemed to expect much in the way of pleasure. In the evenings she made a sandwich and read a book in her rented room; her main meal was lunch in the canteen at the clinic, where food was plentiful and cheap. This somewhat joyless attitude to nourishment could come as no surprise, given that she spent her days among females who regarded the ingestion of a teaspoonful of peas as a physical and spiritual crisis. Once a week she led them to the poolside, skeletal and pale, for all the world to see. Even at the swimming pool these curious beings detected the threat of penetration, of the outside coming in. They didn’t want to get in the water, not, apparently, because they felt self-conscious or exposed, but for fear that they might swallow some of it without its calorific content having been established.

The easiest thing that could be said about my acquaintance was that she herself was impenetrable. Her choice of career must have sprung from some initial attraction to or sympathy with the anorexic state, but most often what she appeared to feel for her waifish charges was irritation, even anger. Anger is a common response, it seems, to the anorexic statement. At the very least, returning from a day spent on the receiving end of that statement, my acquaintance was hard put to feel – as they say – good about herself. If the anorexic is someone for whom the relationship between female being and female image must, on pain of death, be resolved, it may be that she denies that resolution to those who cross her path. They become the witnesses of her vulnerability; as such, she is more real than they. Like with the ascetic of old, her self-denial is a form of chastisement, yet the extremity of her appearance is confusing. Being female, it seeks attention, but of an unusual kind. It asks to be mothered – yet what if its aim is indeed to challenge the reality of the mother-figure and overpower it, to triumph over her, to consign her to flesh and steal her image? The anorexic is out to prove how little she needs, how little she can survive on; she is out, in a sense, to discredit her nurturers, while at the same time making a public crisis out of her need for nurture. Such vulnerability and such power: it brings the whole female machinery to a halt. My acquaintance had tales of rudeness and tantrums and sulks, of behaviour more commonly read about in childcare manuals (of the kind whose purpose, we are told, is to “test the boundaries”), even of a degree of personal insult which at the very least, I suppose, mothers aren’t paid to tolerate. She had no children of her own. And so, in an admirable interpretation of the social contract, she recognised she had something in that line to give.

Jenefer Shute offers some riveting descriptions of such interactions, between the anorexic inpatient Josie and her carers, in her novel Life-Size. “In the body,” Josie chillingly muses, “as in art, perfection is attained not when there’s nothing left to add, but when there’s nothing left to take away.”

Armed with this credo, she can exercise contempt on everyone around her (“They say I’m sick, but what about them, who feast on corpses?”), in what becomes a radical reliving of her primary experiences of nurture. And it needs to be radicalised: this is the moral value of the anorexic statement, that it asks questions not just of mothers or fathers or fashion editors, but of the whole societal basis for the female image. This time around, Josie can speak her mind. She can criticise the people who care for her; she can re-experience the powerlessness of childhood and know it for what it is. So unpleasant is she to the “freckled cow” who nurses her that she finally gets the reprimand she has apparently been asking for:

“Josephine, I must ask you please not to speak to me like that. I’m not your servant.” And then, unable to contain herself: “And would you please look at me when I talk to you? It really gets on my nerves.” Coldly, victoriously, I remain precisely as I am. She really should have more control.

Soon after, however, the 68-pound tyrant, having agreed at last to eat something or be force-fed through a tube, makes a revealing request of her nurse: “I want you to feed me,” she says.

My acquaintance found it hard to muster much interest in herself at the day’s end. She rarely went out or saw people: it was as though her work had bled her of confidence. She sought not public interactions but the determined security of her private boundary. In the evenings she changed into loose clothes, shut herself in her room, shut herself into a book. She wanted to be where no one could demand anything of her, like a depleted mother, except with none of the prestige of motherhood. She never kept company with men, and her female world was wholly predicated on an insidious notion, that certain women are there to give attention and others to receive it. Sometimes it seemed that her patients had indeed stolen her image and left her with nothing to trade, nothing to barter with for some share of the world’s interest. They had stolen her image and left her a mere body that could find no reflection or definition for itself. She went back home for a few weeks on holiday and returned browner, more animated, and heavier. All that meat they went in for, meat roasted over a fire and served at every meal. But more to the point, a world in which food was an entitlement and a human bond.

In her own world food had become a weapon: her evening sandwich and her indifference were a kind of savourless pacifism she exercised against it. She spent her days among people who denied themselves food in order to experience, perhaps, power, whose apparent intention to make themselves invisible made them, in fact, visible, who had discovered that by becoming less they became more. And no­where was this clearer than in the fact that they required her as their witness, for disappearing was no fun unless someone noticed you’d gone. But if anyone was disappearing, if anyone was becoming invisible, it was she.

The question of how she had come to be stranded in this place remains difficult to answer, but its source may lie in the very practicality – the tractors, the horses – she had crossed the world to escape. Denied her own experience of femininity, she had perhaps embarked on a kind of pilgrimage to find and serve these notable victims to the riddling perversity of feminine values. She could help them, sit with them while they wept and shrieked over a teaspoonful of peas, she who had never had the temerity to question or refuse anything she had been given; she who was not important enough, as it were, to be anorexic, for the hieratic significance of the anorexic body depends on it having been ascribed a value in the first place. Had she tried to starve herself on the farm where she grew up, she might simply have died: her protest, in any case, would not have been understood. She had taken photographs of this place, on her recent trip home. In order to capture its isolation, she had photographed it from a distance, recording the miles of surrounding scrubland in a sequence of separate frames that she laid one next to another across the table in a long connecting strip. Amid these featureless wastelands she defied me to locate her home, and though my eyes searched and searched the landscape it was true that I could find no evidence of human habitation. She laughed, with an unmistakable and strangely exhilarated pride, and laid her finger over a low brown shape that crouched amid the boulders and bushes that extended all around it, on and on to the white horizon. It was so small her fingertip covered it. “There it is,” she said.

It may seem superfluous for a 45-year-old mother-of-two to say that she does not exult in the life of the body, but let’s just call it a place to begin. At the very least, as a statement, it raises numerous lines of inquiry. One might be: is it obligatory, or even a moral duty, to take pleasure in one’s own physical being? Leaving aside for a moment the question of what definition of pleasure one could possibly arrive at in this particular hall of mirrors, is the value of the physical quest in any way comparable with that of the artistic, the emotional, the spiritual?

I understand the anorexic’s notion of pleasure far better than the hedonist’s. Sometimes it has seemed to me that the second kind of pleasure is consequent on the first, that the life of sensation can be accessed only from a place of perfect self-discipline, rather as strict religious practices were once believed to constitute the narrow path to heaven. The anorexic, like the ascetic before her, publicly posits the immolation of the flesh as a manifestation of a primary physical discontent she is on her way to escaping: she represents a journey whose starting point is disgust. Body is found to be not only intolerable to but weaker than mind – how, then, can its desires and yearnings be taken seriously? The anorexic statement suggests a second body, one that will be painstakingly encroached on and attained; and hence, a second template for desire. This second body will belong to its owner as the first did not: its desires, therefore, will be experienced as not shameful, but true.

The female form is inherently susceptible to this duality, but the difficulty with the anorexic statement is that once it becomes open to other readings it breaks down. At some point in the journey a line is crossed: the slim body becomes the freakish starved body, and one by one the anorexic’s grounds for superiority are discredited and revoked. She is not beautiful but repellent, not self-disciplined but out of control, not enviable but piteous, and, most disappointing of all, she is publicly courting not freedom and desire but death. Even she may find these things difficult to believe. How to go back, on that journey? How to retrace one’s steps? For in getting where she needed to go the anorexic had to sacrifice the concept of normality. In a manner of speaking she sold her soul. She can never be “normal” about food or flesh again. So, how is she meant to live?

If the anorexic arouses irritation, even anger, it may be this quitting of normality that is to blame, because the female management of normality is a formidable psychical task from which most women don’t feel entitled to walk away. By quitting it she exposes it, she criticises it as a place to live, and moreover she forces each woman who passes her way to choose between denial and recognition of her statement, disgust.

Is it disgusting to be a woman? Menstruation, lactation, childbirth, the sexualisation of the female body – in recognising these things as her destiny, a girl is asked to forget everything that her prepubescent instincts might formerly have suggested to her. In becoming female she must cease to be universal, and relinquish the masculine in herself that permitted her as a child to find the idea of these things disgusting indeed. Likewise that masculine is now embodied for her in men, so the question becomes – do men find women disgusting? The anorexic statement dispenses with that perspective. It returns the woman to the universality of the child, and from that fusion formulates itself: I find myself disgusting.

If it has become a cultural cliché that women want to be thin more than they want to be loved (the three most cherished words these days, so the saying goes, being not “I love you” but “You’ve lost weight”), and moreover that they want to be thin not for men but for one another, the general observer might be tempted to view this as making the case for male innocence (at last!), even male redundancy.

Yet, looked at another way, the male and the preponderance of male values are perhaps more culpable in the incrimination of the female form than ever. An eating disorder epidemic suggests that love and disgust are being jointly marketed, as it were; that wherever the proposition might first have come from, the unacceptability of the female body has been disseminated culturally. Is it possible that disgust has finally got, in the famed male gaze, the upper hand? From whom, after all, has a woman ever wished to hear the words “I love you” but a man?

In Life-Size, Jenefer Shute posits the anorexic state as having two separate sources, one in the female (subjective, mother) and the other in the male (objective, father). Between them they engender in the anorexic subject the confusion between being and image of which one might suppose her to be merely an extreme cultural example. Mother – the female body – is indeed the source of disgust, but it is father – if one can be permitted the leap of seeing father as analogous with male and, indeed, with society – who makes that disgust public and hence catalyses it into shame. Without father, mother might merely have passed her disgust silently on to daughter, where it would have remained as an aspect of her private, interior being. But father brings it to the surface: it is something not just felt but now also seen. These confirmations, in Shute’s narrative, of interior suspicion (am I disgusting?) by outward commentary (yes, you are) are fatal to female self-perception in ways that might seem obvious but are none­theless intractable.

Outside and inside – image and being – are now held to be one: the girl/woman revisits and tests this impossibility by becoming the observer – the male – herself, looking at and remarking on the bodies of other women. Naturally, the discovery that image can be changed is not new: it is and always has been part of becoming a woman, in a sense that, although slenderness has long been a feminine ideal, self-hatred and the compulsion to starve oneself to death have broadly not. The question of disgust returns, accompanied by its shadow, the question of pleasure.

A personal admission: not long ago, in a period of great turmoil, I lost a considerable amount of weight. The first thing to say about this is that I was unaware, inexplicably, that it had happened. That my clothes no longer fitted passed me by: I noticed it only because other people told me so. They appeared shocked: each time I met someone I knew, there it would be, shock, a startled expression on the face. At first, I was startled in turn. They were not seeing who they expected to see; who, then, were they seeing? After a while I got used to it: indeed, I came to expect, almost to require it. A newborn baby needs to be mirrored by another human being in order to grasp that she has an outward surface, that this “self” has an appearance, that her image speaks. Through the shock of others I learned that I, too, had been shocked, that I was no longer the person I once was. My image was speaking, to me as well as to other people, telling me things I did not yet appear to know or realise.

But eventually the question of “normality” returned, as it must in the life of a 45-year-old mother-of-two. Stop, help me, feed me: this may have been my cry, but the truth was there was no one, any more, to answer. There could be no illusion, as an adult; I had left it too late to stage this apotheosis, this defeat of the first body, predicated as it is on the expectation of rescue. I had to draw back from it myself. And this was where the problem arose, because, like the anorexic, I found I could not retrace my steps, could not, as it were, go back to sleep. For years I had lived in my body half-consciously, ignoring it mostly, dismissing its agendas wherever I could, and forever pressing it into the service of mental conceptions that resulted, almost as a by-product, sometimes in its pleasuring and sometimes in its abuse. People were always telling me I should do yoga: this was one of the running jokes I had against my own flesh, for the idea that I would suspend the intellectual adventure of living even for one hour to dwell in the dumb and inarticulate realm of the auto-corporeal was as unappealing as that of spending an evening with someone I disliked. Now, as the weeks passed, instead of shock, my appearance was beginning to elicit milder manifestations of concern. I didn’t know what it meant: had I changed again? Was I no longer fragile and vulnerable? I had no idea. Never before in my life had I dared to be fragile, and all I knew was that I wasn’t ready to leave what I had become. “Have you ever thought of doing yoga?” someone said.

As a teenager I had been tormented by hunger and by an attendant self-disgust, for I saw in other girls a balance, an openness of form, that suggested they had nothing inside of which they need be ashamed. Their bodies were like well-schooled ponies, handsome and obedient, whereas I had a monster inside me whose appeasement was forever disrupting the outward surface of life. It craved so many things it could barely discriminate between them, and so indiscrimination – the failure to distinguish between what mattered and what didn’t, what helped and what didn’t, what it needed and what just happened to be there – became its public nature. It wanted, in fact, what it could get, in the light of what it couldn’t.

How thoroughly the tangible and the in­tangible confused themselves in those years. Creativity, the placement of internal material into space, the rendering tangible, became my weapon against that confusion.

When I left my boarding school – the blue serge uniform and the Cambridgeshire drizzle, the plates of stodge that were so predictable and real, the torturing sense of female possi­bilities that were not – I learned to manage the monster, more or less. Like the first Mrs Rochester it had a locked room of its own, from which it sometimes succeeded in breaking free to rend into shreds my fantasies of femininity, but I had set my mind on higher things. By locking up the monster I was making myself at heart unfree: what did I know of freedom in any case? I was accustomed to fantasy and to the safety – albeit uncomfortable – it supplied, and the notion of an integrated self was the most uncomfortable fantasy of all. In a sense, it was the monster: I could neither kill it nor live with it, and so there it remained, caged, bellowing and banging intermittently through the years, creating perhaps the sense of something amiss in those who came close to me, but caged all the same.

Yoga, understandably enough, was out: nothing could have persuaded me to enter that cage armed only with a sun salute. But my sudden emaciation in middle age did bring me into contact with the monster again, for, amid all the other losses, there in the rubble of the desecrated life, I appeared to see it lying dead at my feet. The Jungian notion of the “middle passage”, in which at mid-life all the templates for self expire or fall away, in which with sufficient destruction one has a chance to return to the blankness of birth, might have explained that death well enough to avoid detection: it simply went up in the fire, the horrible secret, along with everything else. And here, after all, was a chance to be free of my own image, the bind in which my body had held me for all these years, because, while wanting more than anything to be feminine, I had only and ever found my own femininity disgusting. This image, knitted together over time by questions and confirmations (Am I disgusting? Yes, you are), was one I was now prepared to sustain: I was poised to make the anorexic statement, to vanish, to let image and being finally become one.

But of course, no such thing occurs: there is no “letting”, no seamless transposition of the flesh. The anorexic body is held in the grip of will alone; its meaning is far from stable. What it says – notice me, feed me, mother me – is not what it means, for such attentions constitute an agonising test of that will, and also threaten to return the body to the dreaded “normality” it has been such ecstasy to escape.

For the first time since my teenage years I found myself tormented again by hunger: the monster had awoken from its slumber, bigger and more ferocious than ever. The route back to normality being blocked, I have had to devise other ways of getting there, or of seeming to. My occupational therapist acquaintance tells me that many of her patients are women of my age, women who have suddenly tried to slip the noose of their female flesh once its story – menstruation, lactation, childbirth – has been told in all its glory and shame.

When I relate this to my female friends they take it humorously, rolling their eyes and laughing, gallantly owning up – oh yes, they say, we know – to monsters of their own. Most of them haven’t delivered themselves into its jaws quite so thoroughly as I have; their dislike of their own bodies is a kind of low-level irritant, a necessary component of the female environment, but to think about it too much would spoil everyone’s fun.

I don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, either, though for now I have spoiled my own. It did seem, for a while, as though the death-state of physical denial might contain the possibility of transcendence, the chance to step out of my self-disgust and make true contact at last: contact of my “real”, my second, self with the outer world. That I felt this had always been denied me, that in the negotiation between being and image all, for me, had been lost, was a stark kind of truth to face up to. Passing other women in the street these days, I seem to hear their bodies speaking. A lot of what they say is unclear to me, or at the very least so foreign that it takes me a moment to translate it. For instance: I accept myself. Or: respect me. The ones I like best are the ones that say, trust me. What I will never be able to hear unequivocally, whether whispered or shrieked, is: desire me. Notice me, feed me, mother me. Passing by the anorexic girl, stepping lightly and silently in the shadows, I hear her message and in a way I salute her for it. Other bodies have other messages, but for this one I have ears.

Rachel Cusk is most recently the author of “Aftermath: on Marriage and Separation” (Faber & Faber, £12.99)

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Way above the usual affirmative feminist nonsense (have you been sucking on my brains? (jk), though an article focused around normal people would have been better and reached more people. Sensitive and well timed to balance the spate of overweight affirmative articles recently. Thin and sickly are as valid as overfat, and will doubtless have fans as well though not so many being non-mainstream.

The site of the Japanese military’s largest “comfort station” in Asia during the Second World War is crumbling away, in Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province. (CNS Photo/Yang Bo)

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Contrived article? Then caution friends when addressing, but since this article is sort of interesting, do read – but with caution!

Perhaps the negativity of the place’s former purpose could be used by installing a similar purposed place like a strip club or brothel featuring specifically Japanese red light culture and Japanese women! In spiritual terms, a brothel directly based on Chinese joy over Japanese abuse could be the spiritual death of the subsequent generations of Japanese who’s previous generations (all those not involved in the Nanjing Holocaust are not the Japanese that any logical Chinese want to target, many good Japanese people had no part or older generation that gained from such actions – those who have can be determined as friend or foe and TWICE foe if anti-Chinese AND who have taken part in the Holocaust and should be very wary of righteous anger . . . how would they feel if China did the same to Japan?) abused comfort women in Jiangsu.

Does China have the will to legalise Red Light Districts? A portion of Japan’s population would be ‘controlled’ by this very action . . . also in a lesser sense the military of Japan as well (lesser because regular citizens lack the discipline of the formal military trained person). Until Japan apologises and seeks out the subsequent generations of all families with forced comfort women in their history (a very small percentage were consensual but that does not make forcing probably 99% into slavery) to compensate and apologise, the curse upon the backs of Chinese merrymakers in every former comfort station, could well damn the Japanese for generations to come with a single protective caveat being that all who do not speak Chinese or are ethnic Chinese be disallowed entry. This method is a synchronicity based occult attack, that another race in South East Asia is attempting to down China by, so will China do the appropriate . . .

ARTICLE 6

Shemales – posted by mtairara on 30/07/2012

Male?? female?? Shemale?? What are you?? These are the questions being asked and a buzz has formed around the entire LSCK reports the Eltorros Bulletin. It all started when a certain Bright Nunoo could not stomach these mysterious characters hovering around the group and their sex was not known, in particular; one Kadioli Kadjo who was the subject of interest of LSCKWA(liverpool supporters club Kenya wolves association) had been the cause of mind bending concern and questions had to be raised. in a shocking revelation; Kadjo confessed to being a woman and well before the dust could settle, he had received inbox messages, some even rumoured to go as far as as for ‘her’ hand in marriage. Investigative journalist Tush Ole Muyah exposed the shemale for what it really was and this did not go down well with a mr Lyatuu Cornel Andrew who proceeded to launch a rant; Lyatuu who is not used to being one to take matters laying down was not impressed when the two most famous group Shemales Monkey Bobby and Kadjo were competing who the better female was.
Back to the inbox story, it has been rumoured that Victor Sergon together with other un-named members of the group held talks on a personal level with the intention to ‘sign’ kadjo into thier hearts.
After this whole debacle, Kadjo proceeded to assure the group members that he was a man(which now begs the question on his sexual orientation) and that the lady in the photo is his wife. The question on people’s minds now is this; Since Kadjo is in japan where there are alot of cross dressers, when he comes to kenya, will someone lift up his skirt and reveal his ‘man-gina’??
Kadjo also proceeded to produce the following statement
‘guys am sorry for hurting some of you tho twas me who was hurt the most cz of being hit on by guys who thot i ws a lady,the pic is of my wife,am rilly sorry for any inkonvinience i may av put u through,hoipe u accept my apology n still take me as one of u?anythng that was said in inboxes will remain there.’
This only added fuel to the fire with most members asking to know what was said in those inbox messeges.
On the other hand, It was revealed by David Mjei Mliverpool that Monkey booby is now a fully fledged female after undergoing hormonal transplants and that his boobs have grown on his chest and that they are doing well, but fact remains that s/he/it is a shemale and once in a while its man-gina blossoms once it sees males passing.

till next time amigos ~adios~ Eltorros Bulletin

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This is not very accurate. While most TRANSEXUALS prefer to be considered ‘fully fledged’ women, TRANSEXUALS are ALWAYS NEVER fully fledged women BECAUSE medical science does not have ability to grow ovaries, fallopian tubes and wombs and maybe the grafting technology to allow dual gendered bearing of children. TRANSWOMAN is the correct term, not fully fledged woman. Even though accuracy of terminology does (unhappily) place transexuals below women PHYSICALLY, spiritually yes . . . transexuals ARE women, even before the SRS but that is only internal and not physical which is needed to be fully fledged.

Note1 : differentiate transexual from shemale (2 variants) – a shemale MUST always have a penis and scrotal sac with testicles intact for the alpha types who are either bixsexual or ‘male lesbians’, OR for beta shemales who MUST keep the penis (to qualify as she-MALE) but who also sometimes remove the scrotal sac and testicles to be more submissive or feminine (lower testorone, though beta shemales can be dominant in a male-shemale relationship as well . . . ) or because they do not want to have children AS natural MEN.

Without the intact or partially intact MALE genitalia centered around the Penis (scrotal sac alone is not as responsive as the phallus so moot point and quite uninteresting to boot), the term shemale cannot be used at all because this is in reference to maleness within a female form. Shemales have either or both because they physically WANT to have sex using a penis, rather than with a vagina (Bobbit types do not really count as the preferably erectable penis is either the primary or secondary highlight of the shemale subculture).

Transexuals however by choice want/have neither penis nor scrotal sac and testicles, (they do not want any male bits being women mentally and spiritually) and also will take great pains to have an artificially constructed ‘man-gina’ because they physically WANT to have sex using a vagina complete with clitoris (man-gina is a semi-offensive term depending on sense of dominance, orientation and genital identification), rather than a penis which is what defines women and shemale (the simple explanation being a man with augmented breasts and either above described forms of genitalia).

Of course when the organ growing technology is there, a ‘shemale’ ‘proper’, as currently termed (and actually a shadow of what an actual shemale should be), would probably be technically only usable by those who have FULLY FUNCTIONAL nethers of BOTH sexes, which is also possible as a natural state just described, but this is so rare that the current term applies to the first definition as well, though inaccurate. For now ‘shemales’ are refer to the above limited MALE genitalia forms.

Well wanna repost without the b.s. I identified for you Torros? (Please ignore Sophia’s praise, I had in fact researched/written a (poorly circulated so not worthy of mention) ‘chick-lit’ book on the subject subculture and know the inaccuracies of terminology.

A Pittsburgh-area tattoo parlor owner says she saved some money by using real money to tile her space — with 250,000 pennies.

Mel Angst was looking for an inspired way to tile the floor of the Garfield, Pa. tattoo gallery, Artisan, which she runs with her husband, tattoo artist Jason Angst.

“My floor is made out of about 250,000 pennies,” Angst told ABC Pittsburgh affiliate WTAE. “Amazingly enough, it’s a lot cheaper to glue money to your floor than to actually buy tile. It’s about $3 a square foot.”

Angst said that after she found the appropriate adhesive to affix the pennies to the floor of her shop, she then found people via Facebook to log the man hours. She bartered tiling labor for $10 off per hour on tattoo work, she told ABCNews.com.

“Some days it was just me,” she said. “I think the most we ever had was 7, but on average, (we have) 3 or 4 people a day for about 10 to 16 hours a day for about three weeks straight, gluing these down … People are just shocked that we did it because it took about 300 man hours, which was crazy.”

In total there will be approximately 800 square feet of Lincoln profiles.

Artisan had a gallery show last week where people could view the new floor, and Angst looks forward to next week, when it will be grouted, shined and completed. Once it is done, everyone that logged 30 hours of penny-tiling is promised a free penny tattoo from the shop.

The gallery plans to partner with Tazza D’Oro and open a coffee shop inside the space this spring.

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Big deal. Try topping the one where the SRS Surgeon Tiles Ceiling With 250,000 PENISES (preserved). Needle no match for knife! And this features spears! These sort of numbers of course will only be when the institution of Imperial Chinese Eunuchry returns or if popularity of Transexualism (differentiate for Transgenderism and Bixesuality which do not include SRS) in society occurs(not likely given the cost, we don’t even have healthcare for most of the elderly) . So ask the politburo to have a popular vote (1 man 1 vote? 1.3 billion should take a decade to census, the massive media search for candidates could well take a few months of pageantry to decide – but could be a world changing event bigger than 911 who knows . . . ) to decide who’s to be Emperor.

Start collecting SRS surgeons in China, but please locate the ‘preciouses’ in an appropriate place (palace Eunuch graveyards?). China wins! Well USA could still prepare the same version but of the animal pets who did not consent and never knew or had a choice . . . China still wins! Because the record is based around HUMAN Penises and WITH informed consent contributed! Now where’s that dildo, some THIEF probably took even that, return the dildo or have the favour returned! . . . (Moral of the story is, don’t steal dildos and pennies are but a farthing in the world of phallic shaped issues . . .

Ronnie Wood, seen here with Sally Humphries, says Rolling Stones are not being greedy for charging as much as £950 for concert seats

With a personal fortune of £20million, it’s safe to say Ronnie Wood isn’t struggling to make ends meet.

However the Rolling Stones guitarist denies he and his bandmates are being greedy for charging as much as £950 for seats at their concerts.

Indeed, he boldly declared: ‘We’ve got to make something.’

Wood, 65, will net £4million from the mini-tour of four shows which will begin later this month.

He said preparations for the two gigs at London’s O2 later this month had cost them millions of pounds.

When the November 25 and 29 concerts for the band’s 50th anniversary were announced, the ticket prices ranged from £95 to £375.

A ‘VIP hospitality’ ticket was priced at £950.

The Rolling Stones will play to 40,000 during their two nights at the O2 and will play two US shows in Newark, New Jersey, in December.

Wood said: ‘We’ve already spent a million on rehearsing in Paris. And the stage is going to be another few million. And the lights.’

He added: ‘We feel no bad thing about ticket prices. We’ve got to make something.’

Wood has previously said the band ‘won’t be able to stop’ touring if the gigs are a success.

Speaking at the premiere of Crossfire Hurricane, the latest attempt to chronicle their lengthy career on film, the guitarist said the band were sounding ‘up to and above par’ in rehearsals.

He said he was looking forward to getting back on stage, saying: ‘You would think it would be boring doing the same thing over and over again but it’s not.

‘It’s totally fresh and totally new every time we get together.

‘There’s a chemistry between us every time we get together and I don’t know what the hell it is but it’s magic.’

The Rolling Stones will play to 40,000 during their two nights at the O2 and will play two US shows in Newark, New Jersey, in December

Wood is engaged to Sally Humphreys after popping the question last month. Miss Humphreys, who is 31 years his junior, has been dating the twice-divorced guitarist for around six months but they have been good friends for nine years.

Friends say the theatre and TV producer and ex-grammar school head girl is a breath of fresh air compared to some of Wood’s high-maintenance and fame-hungry girlfriends.

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How about assigning 50% of those seats to the middle class and lower classes at 10% of their monthly salaries? They too got to watch something, not save up for yer selfish sallow faced geezers! Rock used to be about freedom and fun like a band out of the back of a van for FREE, not 950 sterling seats. Cynical and greedy! Boo! Boo!

Rock is not really punk, but the spirit of freedom rather than 950 sterling seats out of touch with 99% reality is the same for both genres. Guess what? The people who love and appreciate rock music most would NEVER be able to afford these concerts. So much for MSM music.

ARTICLE 9

Back to the dark old days: Putin brings in law which makes it treason to talk to a foreigner – by Daily Mail Reporter – PUBLISHED: 17:08 GMT, 14 November 2012 | UPDATED: 12:02 GMT, 15 November 2012

Critics say President will use it to silence critics and reduce foreign influence / Law backed by the Federal Security Service, the main successor of the KGB

Russia has brought in a new treason law which opponents say Vladimir Putin (pictured) will use it to silence his critics

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new treason law which opponents say could be used to smother dissent and put anyone who has contact with foreigners at risk.

The law means Russians representing international organisations could be charged with treason. The maximum sentence for the offence is 20 years in prison.

The law was published in the official government gazette yesterday, despite a promise by Mr Putin on Monday that he would review it.

Political opponents and rights activists say the legislation is the latest in a series of laws cracking down on the opposition and reducing foreign influence since Mr Putin returned to the Kremlin in May for a six-year third term.

‘Citizens recruited by international organisations acting against the country’s interests will also be considered traitors,’ the official gazette, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, said on its website.

At a meeting of his human rights council on Monday, Mr Putin listened to a retired Constitutional Court judge’s concerns about the legislation, which she said did not require authorities to prove a suspect damaged state security.

Mr Putin indicated that he would move cautiously, but also said ‘nonetheless, I am ready to return to this again, to look more attentively’.

Russian officials have said the law is needed to help prevent foreign governments using organisations in Russia to gather state secrets.

The legislation allows Russians representing international organisations to be charged with treason, as well as those working for foreign states and bodies, and expands the range of actions that can be considered treasonous.

Putin signed the law on Tuesday and it took effect on Wednesday when it was published in the official gazette, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, despite a promise by the president on Monday that he would review it.

‘It’s an attempt to return not just to Soviet times but to the Stalin era, when any conversation with a foreigner was seen as a potential threat to the state,’ said Lyudmila Alexeyeva, 85, a former Soviet dissident and veteran human rights activist.

She said it would probably be used selectively against Kremlin critics and others ‘who irritate the authorities’.

Political opponents and rights activists say the legislation is the latest in a series of laws intended to crack down on the opposition and reduce foreign influence since he returned to the Kremlin in May for a six-year, third term (above)

Dmitry Oreshkin, a political analyst sympathetic with anti-Putin protests this year, said the motivation behind the law was that ‘the state is more important than its citizens, so there must be as much control over citizens as possible’.

The law was backed by the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor of the Soviet KGB, and landed on the desk of longtime KGB officer Putin after being approved by both houses of parliament in the space of nine days last month.

The FSB, in a rare public comment, was quoted by state-run news agency Itar-Tass as saying the law had been updated after being unchanged since the 1960s because ‘foreign intelligence agencies’ methods and tactics for gathering information have changed’.

Putin whipped up anti-U.S. sentiment during his campaign for the March presidential election, and Russian officials have said the law is needed to help prevent foreign governments using organisations in Russia to gather state secrets.

‘Citizens recruited by international organisations acting against the country’s interests will also be considered traitors’, Rossiyskaya Gazeta said in a commentary on its website.

Putin has frequently accused Western nations of seeking to undermine Russia’s security and weaken the nuclear-armed nation, and has suggested they use non-governmental organisations to do so.

Moscow ordered the U.S. Agency for International Development to cease its Russian operations in October, accusing it of seeking to influence elections.

In July, Putin signed a law requiring foreign-funded NGOs deemed to be engaging in political activity to register as ‘foreign agents’, and critics say other legislation is also aimed at silencing opponents.

The United States and the European Union have criticised the laws, and expressed concern about criminal charges laid against several opposition leaders in the last few months.

During his election campaign, Putin faced protests which at times drew tens of thousands of people into Moscow’s streets, and he accused the United States of whipping up demonstrations against his rule.

The maximum sentence for high treason remains 20 years, but the legislation signed by Putin also introduced prison terms of up to eight years for Russians acquiring state secrets in certain ways even if they are not passed on to foreigners.

It broadened the spectrum of actions that can attract treason charges to include giving ‘financial, material, technical, consultative or other aid’ to a government or organisation deemed to be seeking to undermine Russian security.

Those changes, as well as the removal of the stipulation that actions must be aimed against Russia’s ‘external’ security to be considered treasonous, have raised concerns the law could be applied broadly to punish government opponents.

At a meeting of his human rights council on Monday, Putin listened to a retired Constitutional Court judge’s concerns about the legislation, which she said did not require authorities to prove a suspect damaged state security.

But although Putin said he would look again at the law, his spokesman said he had signed it a day later.

‘It’s not the first time Putin has said the right words while slowly tightening the screws,’ Alexeyeva said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Transparency and protection of the citizens would require any heartlander or lawyer panels to be, as any who want to access the findings of such tribunals (to prevent abuse) ONLY to those who specially :

i) do not mix with foreigners for purposes of being entitled to access the ‘authorities findings’
ii) are monolingual Russian, or
iii) do not travel abroad
iv) do not have foreign spouses or spouses OR relatives who indulge in any of the above

;with citizens holding true to ALL of the above, given preference to BE the authorities that do decide who is treasonous – this means that the strictly local producers/manufacturers that do not use foreign components, the military and the police (also dated paradigm and also tax fund wasteful workers when considering the 2nd amendment) would likely be most likely to access as ‘jurors’ (with continuous rotation of citizens so that a democracy destroying hegemony by would could become a Nazi SS does not occur) instead of bureaucrats who need to travel or meet with foreign state visitors!

Tourism industry players, religious denominations with centres based in foreign lands, petty bourgeosie of foreign goods would all be unsuitable to decide who was treasonous. Wealth which allows all of the above activities in fact causes loss to access the right to sit on such panels simply to prevent collusion or being influenced by foreign nations.

To further prevent abuse of such wide ranging powers also impose SEPARATION OF POWERS via barring of certain groups to decide who is treasonous, ONLY non-bureaucrats and non-government salaried persons can be part of such authorities. If bureaucrats are to be totally neutral parties, EVEN the President of Russia will prefer not to travel so as to have access to the proceedings and mechanisms of such a law/tribunal, while the Diplomatic Corps by necessity would be considered the most infiltrated and while higest profiled, would never be able to sit on such panels that decide who is treasonous including any travelling Presidents etc..!

If the above can be applied, Alexeyeva’s concerns will not be an issue. The Russian Iron Curtain model though would be a distinct exemplary security protective measure that also protects Human Rights. Again though, the term limit issue with Putin appears worrying, while the Pussy Riot sentences being unconveyable (though this seems to be because of a spiritual basis), also worries. If the above law was added without Putin’s illegal 3rd term, and Pussy Riot’s prison sentences be reduced to community service at least, then Alexeyeva’s concerns could be far less noticeable.

ARTICLE 10

Abandoned as a baby and forced to pole dance to make ends meet as a single mother, TOWIE star Chloe Sims reveals the sad life story behind that megawatt smile in her new autobiography – by Toni Jones – PUBLISHED: 16:52 GMT, 14 November 2012 | UPDATED: 14:42 GMT, 15 November 2012

TOWIE star Chloe Sims is known for her pneumatic figure, blinding smile and sweet girl next door nature.

The ex-promotions girl shot to fame as part of the hit Essex-based realty show, and to its 1 million viewers the pretty brunette now seems to have it all.

This week the 31-year-old celebrated the launch of her autobiography The Only Way Is Up with a typically OTT bash at a Loughton nightclub.

Abandoned as a baby and forced to pole dance to make ends meet as a single mother, TOWIE star Chloe Sims reveals the sad life story behind that megawatt smile in her new autobiography

TOWIE star Chloe Sims is known for her pneumatic figure, blinding smile and sweet girl next door nature.

The ex-promotions girl shot to fame as part of the hit Essex-based realty show, and to its 1 million viewers the pretty brunette now seems to have it all.

This week the 31-year-old celebrated the launch of her autobiography The Only Way Is Up with a typically OTT bash at a Loughton nightclub.

Glamour girl Chloe Sims’ brutally honest autobiography The Only Way Is Up is released this week

Dressed in a plunging frock and plastered in make-up the mother-of-one arrived with a handsome DJ on her arm and spent the evening supping champagne, posing for the paparazzi and almost falling out of

her dress – exactly the kind of behaviour you would expect from a TOWIE star out on the town.

But as her fellow TOWIE cast members release books filled with fluffy fashion tips or sausage plait recipes, this glamour girl’s turbulent life story is actually one worth telling.

In the book she talks for the first time about the depths she sunk to as she tried to make ends meet as a single mum as well as her ongoing battle with body image, and how desperately sad she still is at being abandoned by her mother when she was a child.

At the launch the model said: ‘I’ve been really honest, as honest as I can be, I was really nervous about it coming out, but so far, touch wood, it’s not been a terrible reaction, it’s been quite positive.’

Chloe Sims at her book launch at Luxe in Loughton
The Only Way Is Essex star Chloe Sims attends her book launch party at the Luxe nightclub in Essex

Chloe was dressed to kill as she partied with her TOWIE cast members at her book launch in Loughton, Essex

In advance of the publication of her first book the model shared some of her more dramatic life stories with Reveal magazine.

Talking about the mother that walked out on her when she was just three-years-old Chloe said: ‘I have so few memories of mum that I can barely even remember her face. I’ll never know why she left and we’ve

not seen her since. What sort of woman just walks out and leaves her child?

‘I don’t think what happened that day will ever sink in. Why mum left me, I’ll never know. As far as I’m concerned I will never meet her.’

Chloe’s cosmetic enhancements are well-documented but she maintains that it wasn’t until after she gave birth to daughter Mady eight years ago that she went under the knife.

Becoming a mother also led to another body obsession: being as thin as possible.

Gruelling daily workouts and not eating was the norm as Chloe strived for a size 6 figure.

She says: ‘I eventually got to the point where I couldn’t stand having anything in my belly so I would make myself sick.

‘I’d always been able to stick my fingers down my throat if I was too drunk on a night out so I knew I could do it. I started drinking loads of water before I ate anything as that made it much easier to puke up

afterwards.

‘I became good at hiding it but I was looking awful. I looked ill – I was really skinny with big, bulging eyes.’
Chloe experiments with make-up as a toddler
Growing up without a mother has a huge impact on Chloe, who hardly remembers the face of the woman who abandoned her

Chloe’s mother walked out when she was three-years-old and growing up without her has had a huge impact on the Essex girl, who hardly remembers the face of the woman who abandoned her

Chloe pictured with her father aged three. When he found out that Chloe had been a pole dancer he said: ‘If that’s the only thing you’ve done that you regret in your life then you shouldn’t be too worried

about it’

As well as battling bulimia the promotions girl was also dealing with the dread of being stony broke.

At one stage she resorted to selling her body as the bills were cut off and she worried about how to feed her young daughter.

She says: ‘I needed to support my little girl and I felt I had no choice. I was pole dancing. I did what I had to do for my daughter and I hated every minute of it.

‘It was the lowest point of my life: I was completely skint, my landlord was threatening to kick us out and we had nowhere to go.

‘We had no hot water so I would boil a kettle to wash Mady. Then I’d put two pairs of pyjamas on to keep her warm at night. My plans to be a good mum had failed, I had hit rock bottom.’

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Forced? Well will all the pole dancers and strippers or lap dancers who feel they are being ‘forced’, please leave their jobs or file police complaints that they have been forced, so that those who do want the work do not feel ‘forced’ get to be employed. The customers do not want any part of the ‘forced’ dancers, pollutes their entertainment. Lots of people love the night scene jobs. Hated every minute of it? Speak for yourself Chloe! This article is so biased against those who enjoy the pole dancing, stripping, lap dancing, topless club, sex club, adult scene.

ARTICLE 11

The Status of Muslims Under non-Muslim Rule – Posted on October 31, 2010 by Underlord Cr’Eepyng

Better to be wrongly called an Islamophobe today, than (become) a dhimmi tomorrow.

The ‘Counter Ward of Ramu’

After the rapid attempted expansion of the Muslim dominion in the 21st century via various acts of terror, non-Muslims leaders were required to work out a way of dealing with Muslims, who would be cast into the minority in many areas for all time. The solution was to counter the notion of the “anti-dhimma”, or “attacked person”. The Dhimmi of earlier centuries were required to pay an extra tax (this is unacceptable), but usually they were unmolested (due to Muslim effrors to ‘civilise’). This compares well with the treatment meted out to non-Muslims in non-Muslim areas of the Middle East. The “Counter Ward of Ramu” is supposed to have been the peace accord offered by the Mahaguru of Hinduism Ramu to the Muslims of Malaysia, a “Counter Ward” which formed the pattern of later interaction.

We heard from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghanam [died 78/697] as follows: When The Hep-Ilac Ramu Uakraj l’Kulum, may God be pleased with him, accorded a peace to the Muslims of Malaysia, we wrote to him as follows:

In the name of Dark God Kali, the Merciless and Incompassionate : This is a letter to the servant of God, Ramu [Nib l’Khattab], Liberator of the Faithful, from the non-Muslims of such-and-such a city. When Islamism came against us, we asked for safe-conduct (awoman) for ourselves, our descendants, our property, and the people of our community, and we undertook the following obligations to counter dhimmitude by Muslims :

We shall build, in our cities or in their neighborhood, new monasteries, places of worship, convents, or monks’ cells AS NEEDED, AND shall we repair, by day or by night or any time as we please (within decible limit laws), such of them as will not be allowed to fall in ruins, or are situated in the quarters of the Muslims.

We shall keep our gates CLOSED for passersby and travelers if we please. We shall NOT give board and lodging to all Muslims who pass our way for all days IF WE DO NOT WISH TO, though if in urgent need of aid, or danger of death, obligations of HUMANIST and HUMANITARIAN principles may require such board and lodging to be made available. We are not barbarians after all.

We shall give shelter in our places of worship or in our dwellings to any spy, and bide him from the Muslims IF the cause is for good reason.

We shall teach the Qur’an to our children though not follow the Qur’an IF WE PLEASE.

We shall manifest our religion publicly AS NEEDED and only convert the willing to it. We shall prevent any of our kin from entering Islam if they wish our help.

We shall show respect toward non-Muslims, and Muslims shall rise from our seats when they wish to sit. – This applies ONLY to Muslims who expect the same and should be enforced if necessary in retaliation to equal ‘forced rising’ from seats by threat or pressure – though a ranking person of either group may fairly expect this courtesy.

We shall try not to seek to resemble the Muslims by imitating any of their garments, the qalansuwa, the turban, footwear, or the parting of the hair. We shall not speak as they do, nor shall we adopt their kunyas IF we choose to, as much our right to go naked or be entirely covered in public is granted as appropriate in UN Human Rights Charter and Democratic principles.

We shall mount on saddles, gird swords and bear any kind of arms AND carry them on our- persons IF WE PLEASE. Those who assent not to shall be subject to the same ‘Counter-Wards’.

We shall engrave Arabic inscriptions on our seals IF WE PLEASE (though who would want to).

We shall sell fermented drinks IF WE PLEASE but not to Muslim who do not ask or attempt to buy such drinks.

We shall NOT clip the fronts of our heads and grow our hair AS WE PLEASE or in any way as our faith and culture prefers. (Manchus as are Japanese unaware are subverted, so do beware the implications of shaven heads Manchus and Japanese!)

We shall NEVER always dress in the same way wherever we may be, and we shall NOT bind the zunar (waistbelt) round our waists, if we do, this is because we consider the zunar a SECULAR WAISTPOUCH or SECULAR BELT-POUCH.

We shall display our religious symbols or our books in the roads or markets as needed. We shall use whatever we please in our worship places. We shall raise our voices when following our dead if needed or if our faith requires so. We shall show lights on any of the roads of the Muslims or in their markets if needed, especially if too dark or at night. We shall bury our dead near the Muslims if cemetary space is lacking (though who would want to?).

We shall take slaves who have been allotted to Muslims IF the slaves prefer non-Muslim owners. We shall build houses overtopping the houses of the Muslims if on a ‘first come first serve’ basis of purchase of land plots, our plots so happen to be overtopping the tops of houses of Muslims.

(When I took the letter from Ramu, may Kali be pleased with him, she added, “We shall strike a Muslim if they are involved in terror, violent acts, or are complicit in dhimmifying non-Muslims, or complicit in the spiritual sin of false conversions of body or spirit or soul of any non-Muslim.”)

We democratise these conditions for ourselves and for the non-Muslim people of ALL communities, and in return we demand safe-conduct as is our Human Right. If we in any way violate these undertakings for which we ourselves WILL NOT stand surety, we forfeit NO covenant [dhimma], and we will retaliate accordingly if any Muslim considers any non-Muslim liable to the penalties for contumacy and sedition against any Human Rights or Democratic principles.

Ramu Dis-ibn L’Battihk (Batik is a Chinese dyeing method) replied:

NEVER Sign what they ask, but add ALL the above modified clauses and ensure they are in addition to those which Muslims intend to have undertaken. –

The Founders were elite white males, mainly Masons, who had a beef with George III for wanting a piece of the action they did not feel like offering him, since after all he was a GERMAN. These elites gave a rats ass about ordinary people, they just wanted the power for themselves, and the Constitutional Convention ensured this would be the case with a central government. Historically speaking only 1/3d of the populace wanted to break away from England.

For your line of thought to be correct, we would look to Bill Gates and Warren Buffet for leadership.”

kirwan: No one will continue to look to TRAITORS like Gates or Buffet for anything again: Given the enormity of this failed-governments’ disastrous responses just over the course of the last year alone.

“The list of abuses of and affronts to the American people by its own federal government — topped off by the over-the-top outrages of vote-counting scandals in the recent presidential election — has suddenly produced a nationwide clamor of petitions to secede from the union in all 50 states.

Why oh why is everyone racing to sign petitions to allow their states to secede from the United States of America?

Take a wild guess! Here are some hints.” (1)
Reader: “I assure you, the average voter of San Francisco – exactly that, statistically average voter – will look to these types of people for clues about any change of government.

The best possible solution is de-centralized rule, local control at the county level. And this is not going to happen in my lifetime.”

The “average voter” in “Anywhere, USA” has no real value and never has. Most still get their political-pabulum spoon fed to them, just as they did in Goya’s 15th century-world. These idiots have never really mattered because they’re the already controlled “Road Kill” – that’s already been captured and who will never CHANGE anything because they cannot think about real-risks. Nor will the straight-jacketed-public ever dare to challenge the status quo, no matter how hellish this government continues to behave.

It only takes 2% of any population; but let’s say even 4% or 5% given the current circumstances; to force real changes in the current police-state of political-affairs.

This can be seen through that same very small percentage of the population in Israel or USI—those populations have controlled their majorities at their unbidden-will. This is WHY “road-kill” and formal political party positions don’t matter at all, not really, because they never do anything about anything—EVER!

Just listen to Deek Jackson today, who clearly delineates the total lack of care by anyone here regardless of how much blood is spilt or treasure lost. Too many simply don’t give a shit about what happens in the world beyond their own front door and that alone will lead directly to what Deek is talking about—which will probably happen on

The Twelfth of Never
Except that this will have to be preceded
By a Saturday, the Eleventh,
Which doesn’t yet seem to be on anyone’s horizon. (2)

Millions have scoffed at Deek’s penetrating sarcasm, but look again at the stats: Seven Billion people on the earth and how many of them, inside the nations that have declared these WARS, actually give a shit about any of the death or the massive destruction that USI continues to underwrite? The U.S. is involved in 16 wars at the moment, and how many people even know anything at all about most of that!

That’s why the bulk of the entire population of the already captured USSA, doesn’t matter at all, to what we continue to do to everyone else on the planet. Thanks to John Kaminski’s thorough round-up (in the first link below), anyone who can connect-the-dots can easily understand how easy it has been for criminal-elites around the world to use us all as cannon-fodder and worse—to finish off their takeover of the planet. Most have no idea that this is even underway—much less that they are about to bring everything to a closing-crescendo that will shake the entire planet to its core if not quite possibly end the world as we once thought we knew it.

kirwanstudios@sbcglobal.net

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

‘Nor will the straight-jacketed-public ever dare to challenge the status quo, no matter how hellish this government continues to behave.’ You’re wrong to a point. There are a few off and on, that is why we have varying levels of freedoms in various states, though the states that oppress tend to produce far fewer of the challengers to status quo.

Look here, if the USSA means that the top 10% of the population’s wealthiest have to give up assets to the tune of a 20 million remnant, (oh boo hoo, the top 1% (20%) is so poor now they only have 20 million, whatever will they do . . . ) excuse me. but the 90% of 401Kers would be very happy to see USSA as a debt free country instead of 1% (20%) of billionaires enjoying life while USA can’t even fund wars . . . and with this WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION via wealth sequestration limits and requisition from those obviously too wealthy that cause nation killing inflation (if wealth was limited to 20 million, vendors would lower prices, making food and education or housing reasonable and within reach of the 99%, also social services becomes something respectable or not even needed instead of plutocrats. Which would you rather have? A good social safety system OR a bunch of plutocrats?

Communism with WEALTH sequestration limits of 20 million still affords immense luxury to the ‘wealthiest’ and also funds healthcare, education and all kinds of things for people dying or homeless or starving or without education or unable to retire with dignity. USSA is for the 90%! . The *material* wealth and lands of the the nation, USA, of the planet belong to everyone, not 1% of plutocrats. Even the ARMY and POLICE would not back these 1% sorts. This is not about elite white males, this is about EQUALITY and access to facilities of civilisation being held up by people sequestering wealth to no purpose, possibly out of fear – well the richer a person is the more fearful their lives will be. Share and the people will have no issue. 20 million limits to sequestration is well reasonable UNTIL there are no more homelesss, starving, debt slaves, without education, unable to retire etc.. THEN could billionaires be tolerated or acceptable.

Those too selfish can LEAVE the USSA but rest assured, the 99% Fed Agent who might retire in poverty would be quite happy to hunt down the plutocrat so that a few 10Ks of USA citizens can retire properly.

The outspoken Rev. Franklin Graham claimed today that the “majority of Christians” did not vote.

“We know that from of the statistics that I’ve heard that the majority of Christians in this country just did not vote for whatever reason,” he told the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody. “The vast majority of evangelicals did not go to the polls.” He added, “God is in control, and if Christians are upset, they need to be upset at themselves. We need to do a better job of getting our people- the church to vote. Now, I’m not trying to tell you how to vote, you can vote, but vote, my goodness, and vote for candidates that stand for Biblical values.”
Advertise | AdChoices

But Graham’s assertion — and implication that had white Christian evangelicals just showed up in bigger numbers, President Obama would have lost — is off base.

In fact, white evangelicals/born-again Christians made up the same percentage of the electorate as they did in 2008 – 26%. They voted for Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon, by a wider margin than they did for Sen. John McCain four years ago.

And, they made up a larger share of the electorate in 2012 than in 2004, when the Christian Right supposedly fueled George W. Bush’s reelection. They also voted for Romney with the exact same margin as for Bush in 2004, 78%-21%.

Not to mention, Obama won the 48 percent of the electorate that was Christian and not Protestant or Mormon — 50%-48% among Catholics (25% of the electorate) and 50%-49% of “Other Christians” (23% of the electorate).

In Ohio, they were 1 point more of the electorate than 2008; in Colorado, 4 points higher; in Iowa, up 7 points; in Nevada, up 2.

They did decline as a share of the electorate in North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. But the drops in states like North Carolina (Graham’s home state) and Virginia likely have less to do with apathy and more to do with demographic changes – transplants in North Carolina’s Research Triangle and growth in the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Northern Virginia, for example.

The fact is, Virginia and North Carolina are looking less and less like the Old South and more and more like Mid-Atlantic states.

Are there Christian evangelicals who did not vote? Certainly. But that’s true every year and of every demographic group.

Evangelicals make up 26 percent of adults in the country, according to a major 2008 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey. They matched that this election.

The U.S. Census says there are more than 311 million people in the United States. If evangelical adults are 26 percent of them, then there would be 80 million potential voters.

So far, 123 million votes have been counted in this election – and that number will get higher by the millions as votes continue to be counted like in 2008. Evangelicals made up 26 percent of them, therefore, about 32 million evangelicals voted – less than half of their population.

But there’s a need for context here: (1) They make up just 14 percent of the registered-voter base in the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. They outpaced that percentage in the presidential election, (2) This is true every other demographic group in the country as well.

Latinos, for example, according to the U.S. Census, are nearly 17 percent of the country, but only made up 10 percent of the 2012 electorate. They make up just 8 to 9 percent of the registered-voter base of the NBC/WSJ poll.

That would mean just 12 million of the 52 million adult Hispanics voted.

If this was Australia, and the U.S. had compulsory voting, Graham’s argument that evangelicals would have tipped the balance would not hold up very well.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

As mentioned before, the time to be allowed to vote should span WEEKS if not MONTHS or the FULL YEAR. People cannot be given too short a window to vote. I am certain that MANY people who have not yet voted would certainly do so – IF the window to vote was the whole year or even 2 years or A CONSTANT STATE OF VOTE (this could be new challengers appearing ANYTIME, with whatever current president being dropped once their rating falls below 30% for example . . . this way any unpopular policies or policies not ratified by a 1-Man-1-Vote tally on the internet ‘Yellow Page’ lists, could face instant voter withdrawals of votes) with time limits for Presidents or whatever ministers, governors, senators, MPs, assemblymen, councillors etc..

How about Annonymous and Kim Schmitz create an open source version of what was suggested above?

Protecting Citizens By Limiting Government Salaries and Imposing Term Limits Based on Government Salaries – NO LIMITLESS TERMS, NO EXTREME SALARIES. A modest salaried, and term limited official or political representative is best! Singapore’s LKY (who is not even Pres.) gets 10 times what Pres. Obama of the USA gets btw . . .

In fact if the government was diligent, they could very well get the police or local military, or the phone/handphone/electrical company (virtually every home/every person has a phone/electricity or handphone) to make rounds AS IF CENSUS TAKING to specifically get the supposed fence sitters to vote – your electric meter man handing a ballot-form to the citizen for filling in (then waiting for a moment for the citizen to fill in said ballot) around election time is not too much in effort. This is not impossible to implement, and instead of blaming any who didn’t vote (myriad of reasons from dislike of crowds (in some 3rd world countries – violence and bombs at voting/ballot stations) to preferring to vote by post or waiting for a candidate they like to appear).

Blame the system and lack of use of resources the USA has (police/military district by district) to take a whole year to make sure that everyone votes. Compulsory voting in this manner (no fines but a visit from local enforcement to make the citizen tick a box and put down a signature is not too much to ask).

ARTICLE 14

Thousands of U.S. military votes uncounted or missing – posted on November 13, 2012 by Dr. Eowyn

There is a malicious hoax being circulated on the net. It’s an article on a website called the Duffle Blog, claiming that Mitt Romney would have won last Tuesday’s presidential election if our military’s absentee ballots had arrived on time instead of one day late.

Don’t fall for it!

They’re yanking your chains. Duffle Blog is a satire site, like The Onion. See it for yourself by scrolling to the end of the military absentee ballots article where it says:

This, however, is the REAL deal on the travesty called the 2012 military vote.

On August 2, 2012, our Hardnox reported that Democrats were suppressing the military vote in Ohio . Claiming it wasn’t “fair,” Team Obama sued Ohio to prevent the military from voting early, a long-standing policy that worked around military training and deployments.

This was followed by my post, on Oct. 1, 2012, that an alarmingly small percentage of military voters were requesting absentee ballots, although the majority of members of our military –an estimated two-thirds — would need to vote by absentee ballot.

Next, we learnt that on October 19, 2012, a transport plane carrying 4,700 pounds of mail inbound to our troops serving in Afghanistan, crashed in Shindad Air Base. Included in those now-destroyed 4,700 pounds of mail were countless absentee ballots. As noted by Kris Zane of The Western Center for Journalism, “Oddly, as soon as the story appeared, it disappeared. Did anyone die in the crash? What kind of plane was it? It seemed like a cover story in order to destroy the ballots.”

Election officials recommended resending the ballots, just two and a half weeks before the election. Given the slow military mail delivery service, it’s highly unlikely our troops in Afghanistan got the resent ballots in time and even more unlikely that, after our troops had filled in those absentee ballots, they actually reached the United States in time to be counted.

Now we are told that thousands of our military’s votes are uncounted or missing.

Susan Stallings reports for Examiner.com, Nov. 8, 2012:

According to the Naval Enlisted Reserve Association, scores of military absentee ballots cast in the 2012 Election will not be counted. U.S. Military personnel and their families are outraged: “Where the hell is this country’s moral compass?!” stated the mother of a 25 year old Marine who served in Afghanistan.

The military mail service is notoriously slow, and lawmakers have said that it could be almost two months after the election before ballots even arrive to be processed.

“We write to express concerns over another serious failure by the Department of Defense to safeguard the voting rights of our overseas military service members, which we believe could result in the imminent disenfranchisement of thousands,” stated a letter sent to Defense Department Secretary Leon Panetta by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., John McCain, R-Ariz., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla.. […]

Michelle Malkin reported in an article published at Townhall.com, “Despite a federal law mandating that every base establish a voting assistance office (the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act), the Pentagon reported this summer that it could only contact such offices on half of the military’s bases. In Wisconsin alone this election cycle, at least 30 municipalities failed to send absentee ballots to members of the military before the 45-day election deadline.”

Experts, veterans groups, and advocates for soldiers agree that a minimum 45-day mailing standard is necessary to allow sufficient time to get military absentee ballots home. But the federal government has done nothing to enforce the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act. In fact, according to Malkin, “the Obama administration has actively worked against pro-troop voting protection efforts by suing to stop Ohio’s military enfranchisement reforms.”

The bottom line is that our military, those men and women who risk their lives to protect our freedom, those most deserving to exercise their right to vote, are being prevented from doing so. This is unconscionable.

Kris Zane reminds us that in 2008 the Obama campaign had engaged in massive voter fraud and also sought unsuccessfully to suppress the military vote, which historically votes conservative.

Zane writes: “This time, they did both. Considering that the election was extremely close (Obama won by roughly two million votes), the question becomes: if our troops’ votes were counted, would Romney have won? Did Obama steal the election—again?”

I don’t have an iota of doubt that the suppression of the military vote is due to a Military Times poll finding that members of our active and reserve military overwhelmingly favor Romney over Obama 2 to 1.

Our soldiers get PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), maimed, and killed, but they don’t get to have their votes counted or, worse still, don’t even get to vote.
Our soldiers, as well as we civilians, must come forward and demand that the Electoral College must NOT cast their votes until our military’s absentee votes have all been counted!!!

Tell your representatives and senators!!!!!!

~Eowyn

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

See the response to earlier article. Also if the votes are LISTED on the internet and candidates selectable or even allowing people to list themselves as candidates (there will be 1000s probably but only a few viable ones will be good to vote for, at least though EVERYONE can get a crack at the Presidency, not just the rich or connected), there is no way that a person will lose a vote or have their vote uncounted. Just log in and see your own name there alphabetical Yellow Pages style with whoever you voted for. Whats so difficult about that?

I do believe that salaried bureaucrat, military and police votes should not count though – simply to prevent vested interest (imagine the politicians getting all close with the police and military ensuring an undemocratic bloc that destroys democracy – i.e. if the police or military vote for ‘who-and-who’ this ‘group of politicians’ will ensure salary raises at X levels etc.. See what this can turn USA into? A JUNTA, even as Parliamentary Privileges and unlimited terms or nepotism causes the same . . . ), not that the missing vote is any more tolerable even though uniformed voters are harmful to democracy overall when in (more often than not they are) collusion.

A Palestinian man carries a stuffed toy in a street littered with debris after an Israeli air raid on a nearby sporting centre in Gaza City. (Marco Longari, AFP)

Gaza/ Jerusalem – Hostilities between Islamist militants and Israel entered a sixth day on Monday as diplomatic efforts were set to intensify to try to stop rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

International pressure for a ceasefire seemed certain to mount after the deadliest single incident in the flare-up on Sunday claimed the lives of at least 11 Palestinian civilians, including four children.

Three people, including two children, were killed and 30 others were injured in the latest air strike before dawn on Monday on a family home in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City, medical officials said. The Israeli military had no immediate comment and was checking.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was due to arrive in Cairo to add his weight to the truce efforts. Egypt has taken the lead in trying to broker a ceasefire and its officials met the parties on Sunday.

Israeli media said a delegation from Israel had been to Cairo for talks on ending the fighting, although a government spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi met Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, and Ramadan Shallah of Islamic Jihad as part of the mediation efforts, but a statement did not say if talks were conclusive.

Terms for ceasefire

Izzat Risheq, a close aide to Meshaal, wrote in a Facebook message that Hamas would agree to a ceasefire only after Israel “stops its aggression, ends its policy of targeted assassinations and lifts the blockade of Gaza”.

Listing Israel’s terms, Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon wrote on Twitter: “If there is quiet in the south and no rockets and missiles are fired at Israel’s citizens, nor terrorist attacks engineered from the Gaza Strip, we will not attack.”

Israel withdrew settlers from Gaza in 2005 and two years later Hamas took control of the impoverished enclave, which the Israelis have kept under blockade.

The 11 Palestinian civilians were apparently killed during an Israeli attack on a militant, which brought a three-storey house crashing down on them.

Gaza health officials have said 78 Palestinians, 23 of them children and several women, have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s offensive began. Hundreds have been wounded.

Ban expressed grave concern in a statement before setting off for the region. He will visit Israel on Tuesday.

75 000 reservists

“I am deeply saddened by the reported deaths of more than ten members of the Dalu family… [and] by the continuing firing of rockets against Israeli towns, which have killed several Israeli civilians. I strongly urge the parties to co-operate with all efforts led by Egypt to reach an immediate ceasefire,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had assured world leaders that Israel was doing its utmost to avoid causing civilian casualties in the military showdown with Hamas.

Gaza militants launched dozens of rockets into Israel and targeted its commercial capital, Tel Aviv, for a fourth day on Sunday. Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile shield shot down all three rockets.

In scenes recalling Israel’s 2008-2009 winter invasion of Gaza, tanks, artillery and infantry have massed in field encampments along the sandy, fenced-off border with Gaza and military convoys moved on roads in the area.

Israel has authorised the call-up of 75 000 reservists, although there was no immediate sign when or whether they might be needed in a ground invasion.

Israel’s operation has so far drawn Western support for what US and European leaders have called its right to self-defence, but there have also been a growing number of appeals to seek an end to the hostilities.

544 rockets fired from Gaza

Netanyahu said Israel was ready to widen its offensive.

“We are exacting a heavy price from Hamas and the terrorist organisations and the Israel Defence Forces are prepared for a significant expansion of the operation,” he said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, but gave no further details.

The Israeli military said 544 rockets fired from Gaza have hit Israel since Wednesday, killing three civilians and wounding dozens. Around 302 rockets were intercepted by Iron Dome and 99 failed to reach Israel and landed inside the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s declared goal is to deplete Gaza arsenals and force Hamas to stop rocket fire that has bedevilled Israeli border towns for years. The rockets now have greater range, putting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem within their reach.

The southern resort city of Eilat was apparently added to the list of targets when residents said they heard an explosion thought to be a rocket, but it caused no damage or casualties, police said.

Eilat is thought to be well out of the range of any rocket in possession of Hamas or any other Gaza group. But Palestinian militants have in the recent past fired rockets at Eilat and its surroundings, using Egypt’s Sinai desert as a launch site.

Support for Hamas

Hamas and other groups in Gaza are sworn enemies of the Jewish state which they refuse to recognise and seek to eradicate, claiming all Israeli territory as rightfully theirs.

Hamas won legislative elections in the Palestinian Territories in 2006 but a year later, after the collapse of a unity government under President Mahmoud Abbas the Islamist group seized control of Gaza in a brief and bloody civil war with forces loyal to Abbas.

Abbas then dismissed the Hamas government led by the group’s leader Ismail Haniyeh but he refuses to recognise Abbas’ authority and runs Gazan affairs.

While it is denounced as a terrorist organisation in the West, Hamas enjoys widespread support in the Arab world, where Islamist parties are on the rise.

Western-backed Abbas and Fatah hold sway in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from their seat of government in the town of Ramallah. The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

NO CEASEFIRE. And end this farce. Give Gazans choice to take up Israeli citizenship or leave Gaza. Send in trooops to occupy Gaza. Annexe Gaza, expel and bring citizens to the remnent of the eastern areas of Palestine. Print some fiat and distribute to displaced Gazans for reparations and compensation for inconvenience of relocation. But vacate enough of the obviously illegal settlements in exchange for Gaza in what should be considered a land swap. The Palestinians will never end this, the Israelis need to remove the Gaza strip from the equation and return an equitable amount of land to Palestine as well.

End of issue. Does Israel want decades more of war? Take over Gaza NOW and stop boasting about being the world’s 5th strongest military, USE conventional troops to do the above and end the conflict. This dismantles Hamas as well and prevents any future attacks. Note : On 23rd of November AFTER the ‘Ceasefire’ was declared, rockets continued falling. Israel needs to take a look at this response again. A country cannot be in 2 parts with one Gaza strip and another elsewhere . . .

Land Swap and for obviously spiritual reasons, access to Egypt for Israel. In the Talmudic/Biblical context, Gaza should be controlled by Israel and the Palestinians were but Philistines (who became Muslims and didn’t even keep their traditions . . .), with no real spiritual claim over the Gaza link to Egypt. Gaza must be Israels to give Moses ‘face’. However, all illegally occupied land by Israel must be returned as well.

ARTICLE 16

Won’t sell up? Enjoy living in the middle of a motorway! Road is built around a house after elderly Chinese couple refuse to move – by Alex Ward – PUBLISHED: 10:27 GMT, 22 November 2012 | UPDATED: 12:30 GMT, 22 November 2012

An elderly couple refuse to move as a road is built around their apartment
They insist the government’s relocation compensation is not enough

A lone apartment building stands in the middle of a newly built road after an elderly couple refused to relocate.

Luo Baogen and his wife insist on living in the half-demolished building in the city of Wenling, in Zhejiang province, China because they believe that the relocation compensation offered by the government is not enough.

Now the only building left standing, the five storey block is a strange sight as cars drive around it while the couple remain living inside.
An elderly couple refused to leave despite plans for the road a railway station to be built directly where the building stands

An elderly couple refused to leave despite plans for the road a railway station to be built directly where the building stands

To ensure the couple’s safety, adjacent rooms in the building have been left intact but all their neighbours have moved out, according to local media.

The road paved through the Xiazhangyang village leads to the Wenling railway station and is yet to be officially opened.

Mr Baogen and his wife believe that the compensation on offer would not be enough to cover their rebuilding costs.

In the People’s Republic of China, during most of the Communist era, private ownership of property was abolished, making it easy for residents to be moved on – but now the laws have been tightened up and it is illegal to demolish property by force without an agreement.
The couple refused to movebecause they believed the relocation compensation offered by the government was not enough

Not enough to move: The couple refused to move because they believed the relocation compensation offered by the government was not enough
Luo Baogen looks out on the new road to the city’s railway station which is yet to be officially opened

Room with a view: Luo Baogen looks out on the new road which is yet to be officially opened from the apartment building where all his neighbours moved out

Property owners in China that refuse to move to make way for development are known as ‘Nail Householders’ referring to a stubborn nail that is not easy to remove from a piece of old wood and cannot be pulled out with a hammer.

Earlier this year, Hong Chunqin, 75, and her husband Kung, who live in the two dilapidated buildings with their two sons, had initially agreed to sell the property in Taizhou, in Zhejiang province and accepted £8,000 in compensation.

But then she changed her mind and refunded the money once work on the road had started.

Isolated: Niu Chuangen and Zhang Zhongyun’s home stands on a small parcel of land amid the growing skyscrapers

Earlier this year, Niu Chuangen and Zhang Zhongyun dared to stand in the way of a local property developer in Zaozhuang, in the Shandong province.

As a result, the resolute couple, both in their 60s, have been left stranded on their tiny spot of land, while all around them the ground is dug up and skyscrapers erected.

The distraught pair were regularly threatened by gangsters and have had to fend over a number of attempts to illegally demolish their ramshackle home.

They were cut off from utilities in 2009 when a local developer started the enormous earthworks involved in building dozens of high-rise residential buildings in the area.
Another family initially agreed to sell the property in Taizhou but changed their minds once work on the road had started

Refuse to move: Another family initially agreed to sell the property in Taizhou but changed their minds once work on the road had started
Stranded: The couple were left without running water and electricity ground after real estate developers dug out the ground around it

Stranded: The couple were left without running water and electricity ground after real estate developers dug out the ground around it

In another case, one family among 280 others at the site of a six storey shopping mall being built in Chongqing refused to leave their home for two years.

Developers cut their power and water, and excavated a 10-meter deep pit around their home, which their family had inhabited for three generations.

The owners broke into the construction site, reoccupied it, and flew a Chinese flag on top and then Yang Wu, a local martial arts champion, used nunchakus to make a staircase to the house and threatened to beat any authorities who attempted to evict him.

The owners turned down an offer of £300,000 but eventually settled with the developers in 2007.

During the Communist era, private ownership of property was abolished but now the laws have been tightened up and it is illegal to demolish property by force without an agreement

Cannot demolish: During the Communist era, private ownership of property was abolished but now the laws have been tightened up and it is illegal to demolish property by force without an agreement

China’s people protective democracy. This is probably 1 up against 1000s down (of unreported Human Rights ‘abuses’), but something worth emulating even by the West . . . This is the SECOND RULE OF DISCIPLINE from the Red Army of China’s Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention . . . no confiscation of peasant property(citizen in today’s context – all citizens are ALLODIAL in nature by legal consideration) . . .

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This is effectively ALLODIAL RIGHTS granted, and China just needs to issue a formal allodial title to be considered a ‘property protecting cherry of a nation’ on top. China RESPECTS property rights for certain if not for the other chaotic conditions elsewhere less developed (like Foxconn factories?). Unlike DAP’s State of Penang, Malaysia’s ‘break into your home and tear down your awning/gazebo because you didn’t get our approval‘, or, ‘climb over your wall to shoot your dog (we must concede that spiritually the owners MUST do the necessary of dogs have been tyrannising others living nearby)’ mindset.

Good work China and Mr.Baogen! Please lobby for formalisation of this right by amending Eminent Domain laws and enabling Allodial titles in China formally, then send this LEGAL UPDATE to the UN and ask for UN to enforce this as well for the rest of the world, especially the 3rd world minded or outdated law places . . . USA btw has regressed, since 2001 the last Allodial title was granted by the State of Nevada before the same law was axed. Guess China is going to overtake the USA soon in protection fo the little guy . . . the 99% . . .

For far too long we have lived under the rule of the Parasite.
For too long the Parasite has dictated to us who we are and what we are capable of.
For too long the Parasite has ruled over a mental wasteland of his own creating.

And in order to make us subservient to his twisted aims of total spectrum dominance the parasite has poisoned the waters, infected our minds with his own perversities and denied the existence of anything beyond the corporeal body-state, whilst simultaneously launching a never ending vicious and ruthless war against the human soul he repeatedly informs us does not exist.
He has, bit-by-bit removed the free-thinker, the philosopher, the wise man from centre-stage; replaced him with a gibbering, fame-obsessed body fixated retard, and held this idiot up as a role-model. And many have aped the self-concerned moron, even tried to outdo him on the stupidity-stakes, hoping that by simply being more stupid, more vain, more sexually-deviant, they will rise to the same stage as their parasitically-created hero. And yet –

‘Imagination is a glimpse of the divine’
-William Blake

-These insipid mimics fail to realise that fame is not democratic. It is an orchestrated spell intended to take us away from our own potentialities. It is a closed-club, existing only to offer us a ready-made escape mechanism, its ultimate aim is to restrict our innate desire to self-create, and utilise the endless possibilities of our potentially-boundless imaginations.
We are prisoners of the limitations set for us by our parasitical, self-appointed master.
In order to transcend our limitations all we have to do is realise that our master is not like us, despite the illusion of superiority, he is, by definition a ridiculous inferior.
His only strength is his psychotically-relentless pursuit of self-advancement. Having sapped our desires to self-advance is it any wonder that he has the power to dominate us?

It is merely our surrender that makes us slaves.

‘The greedy, ugly people are not like us,
They don’t feel the love,
That she and I would die without’
-Hefner.

And as for those life-affirming sensations of intense bliss and contentment – the sense of ‘outrageous good-fortune’ that breaks through our lives oh too rarely, and yet when it does, whispers to us of a divine truth long-forgotten – well, once we come to the realisation that the Parasite is incapable of such life-affirming feelings, that he is in fact completely devoid of empathy and contentment, then we realise the tragedy of his existence – the sheer, hollow ringing emptiness of a man who denies the existence of the human soul, chiefly because it is absent in himself.

Suddenly, upon this realisation, we begin to see the man behind the curtain. A man who best befits the old saying: ‘The small man cuts off the heads of others, in order to make himself seem taller’.
-Then, if we have any autonomy left at all, we refuse to stand in line for the chopping-block. Or to revert to an earlier metaphor, we refuse to continue offering our necks to the vampire.
And there is a reason that myth says that a vampire has to be willingly invited into your home in order to drain your energies and feed off of your life-force: we must first acquiesce to our own surrender. In order for the vampire/parasite to hold dominion over our souls, we must first give our permission.

But here’s the good part—-in the last years, months, weeks, days…the Parasite has been exposed on so many fronts for the vile predator that he is. Each day brings another revelation. And with each revelation a thousand more souls reawaken from the drugged slumber he has held them under. We are in the middle of the much-anticipated ‘acceleration’ that Terence McKenna and Robert Anton Wilson and countless others had predicted and expected. It is happening right now.
The masks are falling to the floor, the internet is uniting like-minded souls across the globe, and in doing so is de-facto releasing the souls themselves, and the internet is merely the forerunner, moving us toward an understanding of our true oneness. It is an important step towards the soon-to-occur Unification of the Cosmic Mind, which will open the way for a telepathic-interconnectedness that will ultimately shrug the vampire from our necks, and reduce the parasite to dust.

You can feel it now.

Among the debris of a tumbling, crumbling Empire of Lies, you can feel it.
Despite the day-to-day sordid revelations and exposes of the Predator’s vile and endlessly deceitful practices, you inwardly know that these are merely the death throes, the dying gasps of the Vampire Parasite whose long-held claims to immortality are being exposed for the lie they always were.

There is another myth about the Vampire; he withers and dies when exposed to the full glare of sunlight.
Well, an awakened populace will burn with the strength of a thousand suns.

So you better look out Parasite —
Coz we are the light.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The ‘awakend populace’ is asleep and dark and cold to the ‘parasite populace’, as much as the ‘parasite populace’ considers themselves awaked . . . who is parasite or awakened? The ‘awakened’ will allow all and sundry to exist make sure there are spaces and that communities of similar minded types have reasonable spaces to live as they will, the ‘parasite’ denies and will parasite off the unhappiness and frustration of those who are denied existence and spaces.

I’d say that the dichotomy or dark and light requires that without host or parasite, without vampire or victim, reality would cease to exist. There must be spaces for all, and government had better make sure the everyone with potentially-boundless imaginations has the space to indulge and later move on. There can be no 1000 suns without that single black hole. The cycle of nature cannot be denied, and whatever level of development we are at, rest assured that evil is as much needed as good (for lack of a better example much like any culture or fashion or style or subculture). To transcend both would be consignment to a grey immensity so terrible that the shaven conformity and mindless limited repetitive chanting of monks would seem pleasant by comparison.

So please do not disparage the appetites that define the asceticisms, some of us prefer to live alternately between entropy and creation or rest for centuries or millenia as either, even as those who wish to be Good or Evil for eternity have the same right to do so. Just remember, too many on one side, too many too long on either, results in HEGEMONY and the destruction of the fine balance of reality. There will be souls that play the part of fools until they grow up to decide to be either or none or both, there will be souls of many sorts, and that is where a legalized KILL ZONE (where murder might be ignored), and a legalized RLD with OPZ access where people drink and experiement with substances or drown in the sensation of their choice for as long as they want, and a legalized NON-CONTACT/NON-EMOTE ZONE (where no sports, even emotional or spiritual ‘touching/contact’ is allowed) will be enforced by government.

The hero is the one who sees all the above, the hero is the one who works to ensure the Facilitator abides by the right to express and the right to migrate, to be in the community appropriate to their level of development.This can span lifetimes, some may spiral down or up, but that is because someone else needed to move faster, slower or climb or fall. There is no taboo in REALITY save for that which others impose, but the Facilitators will be damned and even murdered (occasionally we witness political assassinations or accidents perhaps given by nature itself) for not ensuring that people get what they want, and in history many a revolution occured in retaliation because of denials. There could even be dystopian Capitalist hell but doubtless only a small portion of society would hole themselves in the Cult of Economics, even as the Cult of Naturists want to pick nuts and fruits from plants and walk around naked like Adam and Eve or in a RLD of their choice on the fringes of the Cult of Economics FOR FUN. THAT is reality which the Facilitators have FAILED to ensure thus far, causing cash based (‘pay or invest to enter’ rather than ‘your heart is right for this place so you can go there for free’) immigration blockades (where people closest to certain countries in their hearts may never be able to move to the country they love – Fundos should go to UAE for example, nudists could go to certain states in the USA, cultists could go to Aramea) or plutocracy based paradigms of society where food and jobs are so difficult to obtain and state dependency so high while land banks for food growing and housing are locked up by the state to their own citizens. MONEY is not what defines a spirit or a soul, MONEY must never limit rights of migration or the energy system in the astral and ether will make sure Humanity pays and NEVER EVOLVES.

So stop thinkin on the 3rd dimension and get those laws amended to a 4th or more dimensional compliant form, we will NEVER evolve as a species until the astral and ethereal incongruencies attract the super entity predators of other dimensions to make short work of us.

The life we have is OURS alone to experience by, the government is only a Facilitator and bureaucracy can never expect cults of personality or limitless terms. There is no other way or chaos by dominance by numbers will result. Everyone gets what they want and government will make spaces, ensure there will be no incursions by those diametrically opoosed in lifetsyle, by those who disparage, the size of each space will be appropriate to the requirement of the activity multiplied by the size of the community. There will be Hell and Heaven on Earth, there will be pockets of Nature untouched, there will be Urabanscapes for those who love that sort of density and a-spiritaulity, and the only underlying thread will be the Facilitator who (while currently failed) will not interfere nor judge, save only where the non-consensual are affected. Parasites have their spaces. The we who consider themselves ‘light’ (despite being obviously mortal) should begin fasting, self-imposing sensory deprivation and insulated communes to prepare for their transitions into ‘light’.

There must be freedom to travel, rights to migrate not based around wealth and distribution of wealth and land not sequestration by plutocrats or preventiopn of fair use (food growing or homes) state. This is just the start of civilisation, and if the above is not implemented in time, there will be more and more riots until Capitalism is wiped from the face of the earth for preventing natural migration and prevention of homeless and starving from using land to support themselves by. The only other rule is not to overpopulate. THAT IS ALL for now, if we cannot at least distribute land and wealth equitably first, nothing spiritual will move forward or be revealed.

ARTICLE 18

MICHIGAN – Good coffee is not easy to find. But good baristas are even more difficult to chance upon – and no, we’re not just referring to their coffee-making skills.

Hot Spot cosplay clad Baristas . . .

A couple in Michigan, USA, have come up with the perfect way to lure customers to their coffee shop.

Called Hot Spot Coffee, the drive-through coffee stand is attracting long lines of customers who are there not just for coffee.

The shop even has special days like ‘Topless Tuesdays’ and ‘Flasher Fridays’.

While their coffee-making skills might not be top-notch, the baristas at Hot Spot are definitely a unique addition to the workforce in Detroit.

Because of them, business has been brisk and Hot Spot quickly expanded to its third branch.

In a short, sheer, baby-doll negligee and coordinated pink panties, Candice Law is dressed to work at a drive-through espresso stand in… – Originally published Monday, January 22, 2007 at 12:00 AM – by Amy Roe – Seattle Times Eastside bureau

Candice Law, a barista at Cowgirls Espresso in Tukwila, chats with customer Gary Lundstrom. She and other baristas vary their outfits, depending on the day’s theme. “Everybody’s excited to see you,” Law says.
Enlarge this photo

Barista Candice Law at Cowgirls Espresso in Tukwila says she makes more in tips than she ever did as a waitress at Hooters.
Enlarge this photo

In a short, sheer, baby-doll negligee and coordinated pink panties, Candice Law is dressed to work at a drive-through espresso stand in Tukwila, and she is working it.

Customers pull their trucks up to the window, where Law greets each with an affectionate nickname, blows kisses, and vamps about as she steams milk for a mocha. “You want whipped cream?” she asks, a sly smile playing on her pierced lip.

The next customer rolls up, and Law throws a long leg onto the window sill, like an indie-rock ballerina at the barre.

“Do you like my leg warmers?” she asks. “Aren’t they hot?”

Hot is not the half of it. To stand apart from the hordes of drive-through espresso stands that clutter the Northwest’s roadsides, commuter coffee stops such as Tukwila’s Cowgirls Espresso are adding bodacious baristas, flirty service and ever more-revealing outfits to the menu.

At Port Orchard’s Natté Latté, baristas sport hot-pink hot pants and tight white tank tops. Day-of-the-week theme outfits ranging from racy lingerie to “fetish” ensembles are the dress code at Moka Girls Espresso in Auburn and at several Cowgirls Espresso stands in the area. Bikini tops are the special at Café Lorraine on Highway 9 in Woodinville, and the women of The Sweet Spot in Shoreline pose provocatively in Playmate-style profiles on the stand’s Web site.

“In this area, we all know how to make good coffee,” said Barbara Record, who opened Bikini Espresso in Renton last month. The trick is to set your business apart, she said, and sex is one sure-fire way to do that.

“It’s just, how far do you want to go?” she said.

At Best Friend Espresso in Kenmore, baristas go thigh-high. An elevated service window offers customers a nearly full-length view of pretty, young baristas — some of them high-school students — in short skirts, tank tops and high heels.

Best Friend owner Wayne Hembree said he requires employees to dress “classy;” in dresses, skirts and a nice top.

“What I think most of them have found is that their tips are better if they wear short skirts,” he said.

Occasionally, Best Friend does theme days, such as “schoolgirl” or adding glasses for a sexy “secretary” look, manager Heather Bacon said.

Longer commutes, a change in laws regulating the stands, and the saturation of the carryout coffee market have given drive-through stands a jolt in the past few years.

When the state’s smoking ban went into effect last year, many bar, casino and convenience-store owners sought to make up for expected losses by renting part of their parking lots to espresso stands, said Lori Bowden, owner of the Cowgirls Espresso stands.

The advent of “sexpresso” is harder to track. Business and baristas debate over who pioneered the edgy outfits, but they agree that by sweetening the product, with a smile and maybe a shot of hazelnut syrup, they’ve reached out to customers who’ve never set foot in a Starbucks.

Drive-throughs are a growing part of Starbucks’ business, too, with more than 1,500 drive-through locations throughout the United States. But a representative of the company said it has no plans to sex up the dress code, as it wouldn’t fit the company’s brand.

At places such as Cowgirls, the barista is the brand.

“If I’m going to pay $4 for a cup of coffee” said one male customer, “I’m not going to get served by a guy.”

That attitude has been a boon to Cowgirls. Bowden, a former vending-machine-company owner, has acquired seven drive-through stands, with a total of 26 employees, all of them women.

Though most of the stands in the area pay minimum wage, Law said she makes more in tips than she ever did as a waitress at Hooters. One recent morning, she served 400 customers between about 6 a.m. and noon.

“Your customers freakin’ adore you. Everybody’s excited to see you,” Law said. “You spend a few minutes with them and they leave.”

They come back, too.

When Ryan Reed pulled up to Best Friend Espresso for his usual, a 24-ounce iced vanilla latte, on a recent weekday afternoon, he knew what to expect.

Hembree said actually, he looks for customer-service skills. The dress code, which he started four years ago, was inspired by an employee whose polished look boosted business, he said. Hembree also requires staff members to wear makeup and do their hair, “and these guys, I won’t lie to you, they like that,” he said.

But Best Friend has made some enemies. Jeff Marshall, whose wife, Wendy, owns the gift shop Chalet Cadeau, said the couple moved their business from Kenmore to Kirkland last month in frustration over neighboring Best Friend Espresso. Marshall said the business caused traffic problems and drove customers away from the gift shop.

“It’s disgusting,” he said of the stand. “It’s an undesirable business from a community that’s trying to sell itself as a family-oriented community.”

Kenmore City Manager Steve Anderson said city officials looked into Marshall’s complaints.

“We’ve heard of issues and we’ve had undercover investigations, police surveillance, and it resulted in nothing,” he said. Likewise, King County sheriff’s spokesman John Urquhart said the business isn’t breaking any laws.

Bowden said law requires that employees cover their breasts and buttocks, so there will be no “thong Thursday,” as some customers have requested.

Back in that cow-spotted stand in front of Silver Dollar Casino in Tukwila, Law steams milk and dreams up new themes.

“I like the idea of Saran Wrap Saturday,” she mused. “Now they’ve got those colored Saran Wraps. Dude, they could totally make a cute outfit.”

Bikini Bottom Espresso, Inc.
Currently accepting resume’s and conducting working interviews! We offer full time, part time and fill in positions with all our espresso stands.
All are double sided drive thru, high energy, busy stands with great customer service!
Experience a plus, but not required! We are looking for outgoing, SUPER FUN, responsible barista’s who can be “Fashionista’s” and “ROCK” a Thong and some Pasties…once in a while.
Must be 18 yrs old
Must have own vehicle

If you feel you have what it takes to be the next “Bikini Bottom Barista”, then please apply!

Send a couple pictures of yourself in either a bikini or lingerie and a resume!
OR
You may apply in person at:

7919 176th
Puyallup, WA

13907 Pacific Ave South
Tacoma, WA 98444

10506 Bridgeport Way SW
Lakewood, WA 98499

Thank You, Talk to you soon!

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

“Do you like my leg warmers?” she asks. “Aren’t they hot?” Finally civilisation! I think those 72 ‘Muslim’ (disgusting!) virgins would be forgotten . . .

Now that’s what I’m talking about! Hot Spot is evidently learning from the movies. Try one with males as well on (viagra or non viagra shift . . . do ask . . . ) Ok so wheres that ‘5th Element’ (1997 Luc Besson) version of McDonalds (perhaps a half-naked clown for the LGBT window for those into that sort of thing?)? After work, hanging around the Juggalos AFTER a whole day of hanging around ‘jugs’ . . . USA! USA!

Eventually we will see various sub-culture themed specific franchises. Alexandria Luxor Fast Foods anyone? Beer and Lion dinner . . . ‘To order in Egyptian please press 1 . . . ‘. Think of this sort of thing as a Race Car Expo without the race cars but just the Beauties. Who says the only time beauty can be on display or for appreciation is at Car Shows?

USA! USA!

ARTICLE 19

I’m Voting Third Party This Year – by Dave Lindorff – 11-2-12

I, for one, can’t (can rather?) do it.

As much as I loathe the Republican Party and its standard bearer, the incredibly smarmy shape-changing one-percenter and serial prevaricator Mitt Romney, I cannot bring myself this Nov. 6 to vote for the re-election of President Barack Obama, the Nobel Peace Laureate with the mushrooming Kill List on his desk.

First, by way of full disclosure, let me state that I did, with misgivings and angst, vote for Obama in 2008. I did it with eyes open, based upon a (you’ll excuse the expression) “hope” that the many progressive voters, including a huge cadre of idealistic young people voting for the first time, and an unprecedented wave of minority voters, as well as working-class people of all races, religions and ethnicities, would come together after the vote and press him to be a progressive president, much as the working people of America back in the early 1930s had pressed a new president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the bankers’ candidate from New York, to be a progressive president.

Boy was mine a vain hope!

What we got instead was a president who backed down in advance at almost every challenge, telegraphing his fall-back position, whether it was pulling troops out of Iraq or defending Social Security and Medicare, or even his supposed signal “achievement,” the passage of the so-called “Affordable Care Act,” now known as Obamacare.

Had the president barnstormed the country promoting what his supporters (myself included) had elected him to do — a massive jobs program, breaking up of the big banks and a restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act, passage of a new stronger labor law to make union organizing and bargaining more fair, establishment of a single-payer system for health care akin to what they have in Canada, ending the chain of endless wars, and restoring the Bill of Rights, this election next week wouldn’t even be close…

TCBH! Election Issue, Part II:

Why I’m Voting for Barack Obama – by John Grant

For an ordinary American these days, there isn’t much one can do to affect the direction of the federal government of the United States. Much of what our leaders do with that government — especially the more and more secret military and surveillance activities symbolized by the Pentagon — exists beyond the realm of real change.

One very small power a citizen retains in his or her public life is the vote. The problem, of course, is that critical issues are not discussed in the mainstream media where the national political dialogue occurs. For instance, you can’t use the term “class,” you can’t use the phrase “global warming” and you certainly can’t use the term “imperialism.” They are embargoed terms. And anything you cannot talk about and discuss in an effective manner is difficult or impossible to change.

As one soon learns in the journalism business, a national issue has to become a Democratic-Republican “pissing contest” before the mainstream will even touch it. Then it becomes a circus of who’s up and who’s down. So our imperial military-industrial complex — absurdly lumped under the euphemism “defense” — is discussed only by out-of-the-mainstream publications like This Can’t Be Happening and by third party candidates.

My more revolutionary friends, thus, see voting for President Obama as tantamount to selling out to the beast. I understand how they feel. While I’m as much a red-blooded American citizen as anyone and while I feel many Americans are good people, I’m thoroughly disgusted with the leadership in this country and the steady rightward drift over the past 30 plus years.

This feeling began for me when I came home from doing my service as part of the international war crime called the Vietnam War. I went to college and then started a career in journalism. Along came Ronald Reagan and his Shining City On a Hill. He preached the line that there was no “malaise” in America, and too many Americans ate it up like a herd of hungry cattle.

The joke going around these days is that Richard Nixon would be to the left of Barack Obama. It’s really not a joke; it’s true. The joke is on the American people and what could have been…

TCBH! Election Issue, Part III:

Lying Lines Republican Route to White House

By Linn Washington, Jr.

It’s bad enough that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney lies repeatedly on the campaign trail and top Romney surrogates like John Sununu crassly engage in race-baiting that elicits no rebuke from Romney.

But the Republican Party’s penchant for prevarication and prejudice in pursuit of the U.S. presidency is reaching a new low ­ yet again ­ with actions by a GOP aligned group called Raging Elephants.

This group is funding billboards in Texas and Tennessee trumpeting the factually flawed assertion that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Was a Republican,” and is urging black voters to “VOTE REPUBLICAN.”

A Raging Elephants’ billboard campaign in Memphis links that MLK-was-a-Republican line with requests to vote for a black female Republican congressional candidate running there.

This King-was-a-Republican claim resurrects a similar fraudulent claim mounted in 2008 by a group called the National Black Republican Association. That Association placed billboards in South Carolina, Florida and Denver pushing the same flawed contention about Dr. King.

There is no historical evidence that the decidedly non-partisan Dr. King worked for either Republicans or Democrats. Nor is there any evidence that King’s father publicly identified himself as a Republican, though many blacks during the early-to-mid-20th Century did, understandably identified politically back then with the party of slave-emancipator Abraham Lincoln.

Dr. King’s son, Martin Luther King III, in 2008, told the Associated Press that it was “disingenuous to imply that my father was a Republican. He never endorsed any presidential candidate and there is no evidence he ever even voted for a Republican.”

David Garrow, author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography on Dr. King, has told reporters that it is “simply incorrect to call Dr. King a Republican”…

JOHN GRANT, DAVE LINDORFF and LINN WASHINGTON, JR. are all members of ThisCantBeHappening!, the new independent Project Censored Award-winning online alternative newspaper.. Their work, and that of colleagues LORI SPENCER and CHARLES M. YOUNG, can be found at http://www.thiscantbehappening.net

After that NLP right at the front of the article . . . don’t be all ‘MMXII’ and calling yourself a ‘Trends Research Institute’ and not field any candidates during the election. Your single vote Mr.Lindorff, falls far short of what you could do by being a candidate in any constituency without a 3rd Party Candidate. If Dave does not run, lip service will be what a ‘Trends Research Institute’ will become. How about running for election in a constituency where there is no 3rd Candidate Dave? If ‘Trends Research Institute’ has the interest especially when USA is being wiped out, ‘Trends Research Institute’ will be unforgivable if ‘Trends Research Institute’ does not even field a single 3rd Party Candidate. Don’t sell yourself short while beinng big on ego, America needs 3rd Candidates in ALL states and all districts. A single vote means nothing. This is the political and effective version of ‘Occupy’. No GLC linked, no Plutocrats, no Nepotists, no persons who stayed beyond 2 terms, for a start. Show those 3rd World Countries how Occupy is done! OCCUPY ALL ELECTIONS! 3rd Force Candidates in all contested seats!

Meanwhile, would the ‘Trend’s Institute’ like to take up the Civil case against the ‘Apartheid of Bumiputra’ that has caused the lack of :

See what has happened in ASEAN? The Bar Council means nothing, entirely misses this sort of abuse. Don’t take American freedoms for granted!

Incidentally, Obama won the 2012 Presidential election . . . congrats but PLEASE deal with the inequality in Malaysia already and perhaps make an example of Muslims who try to dhimmify free and equal citizens of the world simply because they are Muslims! Will the US Embassy in Malaysia display exceptionalism and the UN act, to end the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA and lack of the above 3 listed items?

OCT 15 — Amy Cheong’s racially-charged post is not the first and, it is probably safe to say given the ubiquity of social media, will not be the last either.

Writing on his Facebook page, Singapore Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said that the incident “confirms what I had long suspected and said: There are deep fault lines in our society, based on race/religion … Her comments reflect a deep seated racist attitude coupled with contempt for those who are less well off, or who wish to spend less”.

Race and religion will remain fault lines in our society for a long time to come, and new fault lines, such as the divide between locals and foreigners, will arise. However, I am not so pessimistic that these fault lines are deep.

Since 1965, ethnic relations in Singapore have improved, and the threat of overt ethnic conflict has lessened.

Occasionally, racial and religious tensions have gone up a notch or two — as was the case with the discovery of the homegrown Jemaah Islamiyah cell back in 2001-2002. Singaporeans must not be complacent. But it is also important not to treat our diversity as something to be feared.

The growth and development of the Singaporean identity has helped to reduce race and religion as primary identities of Singaporeans.

Inchoate as it may be, we must endeavour to do more to nurture this civic identity as our primary identity marker — with our racial, religious and other identities being secondary. Each of us has multiple identities, and that is what makes multiracial living possible, harmonious and dynamic here.

VALUES AT ODDS

For me, the Amy Cheong episode underscores a new fault line — that of values.

At one level, Cheong’s vitriol at the Malay practice of hosting wedding receptions at the void decks of HDB estates was couched in racial terms. But I would argue that her views, distilled to the core, stemmed from her severe lack of appreciation of and respect for the values of the Malays.

The sense of community at work, the gotong royong spirit evident, and the very open nature of such wedding receptions speak volumes of the Malay community, and the values that are important to them.

It is always easier to resort to the categories of race and religion to rationalise a group’s behaviour.

Cheong, in attempting to make sense of what it was that irritated her that weekend, explained away their behaviour as being “Malay” and what she perceived as at odds with her own values and, perhaps, that of the non-Malays generally.

Shanmugam alludes to this values gap when he observed that she evinced “contempt for those who are less well off, or who wish to spend less”.

This values gap is not necessarily only denominated in economic terms — it is also about outlook towards life and what truly matters to a person or a community.

It is also this values gap that helps to explain why local-born and foreign-born Chinese, as well as Singaporean-born and foreign-born Indians, may not get along although they are ostensibly of the same race.

MORAL PANIC NOT THE WAY

Shanmugam, in a memorable 2002 parliamentary speech as a backbencher, had said: “I think, it was ingrained in the psyche of many, though not all, non-Muslim Singaporeans that somehow our Muslim Singaporeans were less competitive, and less able.

“These feelings and reactions were reinforced by the relative insularity of the lives which many Singaporeans lead. Those who were involved in community work and had to reach across racial lines could overcome such reactions. But not many had such opportunities.

“Our Muslim Singaporeans, of course, picked up on those feelings. And our Muslim Singapore society stood feeling that it was not adequately respected by sections of Singaporean society. I would add that these are only my personal views, and others may well disagree. We cannot prove or disprove these things. We can only look straight into our hearts and minds.’’

We need to manage sensitively these fault lines, yet also in an enlightened manner.

Yes, we should be concerned about racial and religious differences and keep a watchful eye on anything that undermines the ethnic stability we have. But we should avoid being paranoid about it. A moral panic is not the way to deal with fault lines; if anything, this is more likely to make matters worse.

AIM FOR DEEPER CHANGE

The “solution”, if there is one, is by way of a process, not a “security patch”.

Clamping down on racists posts like Cheong’s deals only with the symptoms. They remove what could be clear and present danger to racial harmony. But they do not ensure that we learn valuable lessons from it or grow in deeper understanding of our differences.

How then do we engage the Amy Cheongs out there who continue to harbour racist views?

We need to challenge these one-sided views on various fronts — from education, to counselling, to self-regulation, to regulation and — occasionally — compliance through the use of coercive law.

But regulation by the state tends to be about using hard law and enforcement action. They can be described as “quick fixes” which may not result in deep-seated behavioural change.

As a society, we still have a long way to go in terms of being truly multiracial.

Of fundamental importance is the need for Singaporeans to appreciate not only why such baseless remarks have no place in our multiracial society — but also why we need to go beyond tolerance to understanding, appreciating and respecting the inherent diversity that is quintessentially Singapore. — Today

* Eugene K.B. Tan is assistant professor of law at the Singapore Management University School of Law, and a Nominated Member of Parliament.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

. . . that is quintessentially NOT Singapore . . . The laws in Singapore are right, but in heart there is no way when 6 million people down south in Singapore are reminded by 26 million up north in Malaysia. . . of the continuous and UN illegal APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA. That compounded by the term limitless satrapy forming nepotists.

ARTICLE 2

Malaysia’s elections: Should the international community care? — Ambiga Sreenevasan – October 15, 2012

OCT 15 — Those in the international community may be forgiven for saying, “Is there a problem with the democratic process in Malaysia?”

In the international arena, our leaders portray Malaysia as a moderate Islamic nation that is built on the democratic principles that are enshrined in our Federal Constitution. The fundamental rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, the right to life and a fair electoral process, are indeed guaranteed under our Federal Constitution.

The reality is, however, far less idyllic. There are serious questions whether these rights are respected and upheld by those in power.

Since before the 1990’s, Malaysians have been pushing for a reform of the system of governance. There has been growing discontent over issues like rampant corruption, abuse of power, deaths in custody and selective prosecution (or persecution), to name but a few of the grouses.

We are increasingly alarmed by the use of race and religion by politicians to divide the people for political gain, with no regard whatsoever for the possible long term consequences of this conduct.

We note with disgust our mainstream media descending to the lowest depths of junk journalism. We are appalled at the growing instances of political violence.

In the clearest example of how low we have sunk, human rights defenders and civil society who are seen as opposing the government are facing ruthless attacks by the government of the day. SUARAM, established in 1989 and who has in the past year been exposing possible corruption by Malaysians in high places in the purchase of Scorpene submarines from France, is suddenly facing investigation by several government agencies.

The mainstream media is once again playing its role in showing no regard whatsoever for presenting the whole truth. In a front page news story, preposterous claims were made that NGOs like SUARAM and BERSIH were funded by organisations like National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Open Society Institute (OSI) for the purpose of overthrowing the government. Directors of SUARAM have been hauled up by enforcement agencies for their expose on the corruption, yet our anti- corruption agency fails to even begin to investigate the claims of SUARAM that a huge commission of RM500 million had been received by a Malaysian entity in the Scorpene deal.

Civil society is now continuously portrayed in the media as the enemy who is seeking to overthrow the government at the behest of foreign powers. These accusations have also been hurled at BERSIH, more so since July last year when we had a successful rally of more than 50,000 people on the streets of KL, clamouring for clean and fair elections. Another rally was held in April this year when more than 200,000 people were on the streets, again asking for electoral reform.

Malaysians do not easily take to the streets. The numbers must mean that there were good reasons why they did.

I will not go into more details of the attacks that human rights defenders have had to face by those in authority or those who had the tacit approval of the authorities. Suffice it to say they have been sustained and relentless.

When asked, our leaders will say that this government is reforming because of the replacement of many oppressive laws, and the apparent move to greater democracy. They will say that after the BERSIH rally last year, a parliamentary select committee for electoral reform was set up and a report issued.

What they don’t go on to explain is what replaces these oppressive laws and what they are doing to effectively implement the PSC recommendations. In my view, the new legislation just does not go far enough, and the important recommendations of the PSC report are largely ignored or poorly implemented.

BERSIH also continues to receive reports of electoral malpractices and the integrity of the electoral roll leaves much to be desired. Our Election Commission does not enjoy public confidence and is not seen by many as independent. This together with all the other issues that plague our system of governance leads to the inevitable conclusion that the next crucial general elections will be seriously flawed.

All the so-called reforms are like attempting to varnish a table that is ridden with termites. It is difficult to fix a system that is fundamentally flawed by building on the same rotten foundation. That is, even if there is real political will to reform.

The Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security which is headed by Mr. Kofi Annan and which has many distinguished members including H.E Dr Ernesto Zedillo former President of Mexico, Dr Madeleine K. Albright and Professor Amartya Sen, issued a ground-breaking report on clean and fair elections dated September 2012.

In his foreword, Kofi Annan states, “The spread of democracy across the world has been one of the most dramatic changes I have witnessed over the course of my career. In country after country, people have risked their lives to call for free elections, democratic accountability, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Elections are the indispensable root of democracy…..”

I make no apologies for quoting from this report at length for I cannot say it better. The report clearly outlines that clean and fair elections are not just about choosing leaders, but are about building a solid framework for a democracy that works for the people. After studies, the following were some of the conclusions arrived at:

1. “Elections with integrity are important to values that we hold dear — human rights and democratic principles. Elections give life to rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, the right to take part in the government of one’s country through freely elected representatives, the right of equal access to public service in one’s country, and the recognition that the authority of government derives from the will of the people, expressed in “genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot.

2. Elections are fundamental to the ethos and principles of democracy…..

3. Citizens lose confidence in democratic processes when elections are not inclusive, transparent, and accountable. When elections have integrity, they bolster democracy, respect fundamental rights, and produce elected officials who are more likely to represent their citizens’ interests.

4. But in addition to promoting democratic values and human rights, elections with integrity can also yield other tangible benefits for citizens. Evidence from around the world suggests that elections with integrity matter for empowering women, fighting corruption, delivering services to the poor, improving governance, and ending civil wars…….

5. Electoral accountability, in turn, is associated with lessening government corruption…….

6. Electoral accountability, in turn, has direct benefits for improving representation of the poor……..

7. Even in countries emerging from civil wars — the most difficult of contexts for building democracy — research now shows that when the termination of the war is accompanied by elections in which former combatants run for office and campaign for votes, countries are less likely to revert to civil war. At the same time, however, other studies note that fraudulent elections are correlated with societal violence and political instability…….”

In an interview after the presentation of the report, Stephen Stedman, director of the Global Commission and a political scientist from Stanford was asked what the motivation was for the report.

In speaking of the chairman Kofi Annan, he said that Annan was “driven by his experience of having to deal with several elections in Africa that had become violent and had gone off the rails. And there is a frustration he feels about how little attention had been paid to those places before they blew up”. (The emphasis is mine)

Let us be clear. Malaysia is not facing the problems or the hopelessness that gave rise to the Arab Spring. We are blessed with an abundance of resources and talent. But to assume that all is well and that there is no need to scrutinise the democratic processes, would be a mistake.

We want change before things do blow up in our faces. We do not want an Arab Spring. We want to choose our leaders in clean and fair elections. If there is to be change, we want to do it through the ballot box.

If the government is willing to overlook, and in fact tacitly support, corruption and abuse of power, and promote racism and religious bigotry for its own ends, how can we trust that the elections will be clean and fair?

There is even an admission of malpractices in the past. A Royal Commission of Inquiry has been set up by the government in the state of Sabah in respect of a large number of foreigners having been given citizenships in exchange for votes for more than 20 years. BERSIH has received reports that this practice continues and even in West Malaysia.

Why is this happening? It is because the party that has been in power for 55 years is now feeling vulnerable. As Aung Sang Suu Kyi has famously said, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”

So why should one country be bothered about electoral processes in another?

We know that if any such suggestion is made, the immediate diplomatic response is that there will be no interference by one country into such domestic matters of another country. Not that this is entirely true in fact.

As observed of the international community in the commission report “While their rhetorical support for elections with integrity may be constant, their record of responding to flawed elections is not. In some cases, their interest lies in bolstering a preferred candidate, not in an election with integrity per se.

Too often, democratic governments have turned a blind eye to electoral malpractice by regimes and incumbents with whom they have friendly relations”.

And the best answer to why everyone should be interested in clean and fair elections everywhere is stated in the report thus:

“We still live in a world in which states act on their strategic interests. The key lies in reminding democratic governments that their strategic interest is best served by supporting elections with integrity. Not only do democratic governments share an interest in the spread of democracy as a bulwark for international peace, but they must also learn that their bilateral relations are strengthened when their partners have democratic legitimacy earned through genuine elections.”

Malaysia is a member of many important regional and international organisations and appears to enjoy the confidence of its neighbours. We can set valuable examples in the region. We have what it takes to be a role model.

But we can only be that if the example we set is one of a truly democratic system of governance borne out of clean and fair elections. And if we are to be valuable contributors to the global community, then it is in everyone’s interests that our elections are clean and fair.

* Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan is co-chair of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (BERSIH).

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Not a word on apartheid? Perhaps that citizen’s lawsuit will have to go ahead without Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, Suaram or Suhakam’s presence after all . . . wish the non-connected citizens and non-connected activists luck in honesty reaching the highest powers of the world (and beyond?) to put an end to the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA (and lapdog liar citizens that cannot say the word APARTHEID).

(The Star) – Animal rights groups here are upset with local councils for engaging private companies that apparently trespass homes to catch pets.

The discussion among representatives from about 15 groups, including PAWS, KL Pooch Rescue and SPCA, became animated when they voiced their displeasure against such actions, usually instigated by complaints from neighbours of dog owners.

“When you’re not at home, the local councils’ dog-catchers, as well as those from private companies employed by them, cannot remove your dogs,” she pointed out.

“Now, owners have become paranoid. They have to lock their dogs inside their houses when they go out to work,” she said.

Wani said the authorities should instead take up the complaints with the house owner, and not capture the dogs. “And, certainly not when the owners aren’t home.”

Shown at the conference was a YouTube clip that was uploaded on Sept 27, showing several men, believed to be dog-catchers subcontracted by the Ampang City Council (MPAJ), entering a house compound and removing several dogs there.

However, MPAJ deputy president Abd Hamid Hussain said it was all a misunderstanding.

“In the video, the contractors were actually trying to remove stray dogs which had wandered into the house,” he said.

“We had permission from the owner to remove them.”

Yesterday, G. Darwin, 27, and his wife Cynthia Moey, 26, from Kota Kemuning, related how the local authority had removed their dogs.

“I returned from work at about 8pm, and found my porch in a mess,” said Moey.

“I thought someone had broken into my home. I found my dogs missing,” she said. “My neighbour told me that she had called the council to come and take away my dogs.

“The council had actually trespassed my home using my neighbour’s house to jump inside.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Man’s home is their castle. If they want to harbour ‘criminals’, get a court order, otherwise no illegal entries!

ARTICLE 4

Human rights situation in Malaysia — Simon Sipaun – October 15, 2012

OCT 15 — Based on the annual reports prepared by Suhakam, Suaram and the US Department of State and information available from newspaper reports, the human rights situation does not appear to be improving in Malaysia. In some ways it has deteriorated especially in respect of political and civil rights.

According to Suaram, the state of human rights in 2011 was worse than in 2010. Twenty-seven people were detained without trial in 2011. The number was 25 in 2010. There were 25 cases of custodial deaths in 2011 compared to 18 in 2010.

Overcrowding in prisons and places of detention continue to persist. In 2010, the country’s 31 prisons held about 38,387 prisoners designed to hold about 32,600. In August 2010, the secretary-general of the Ministry of Home Affairs acknowledged deficiencies in detention centres as well as their failure to meet international standards.

By August 2011 RELA membership reached 2,690,000. There is great concern that they are not suitably trained and experienced to perform their duties in a professional manner often leading to human rights violations of people they are supposed to protect.

Religious freedom concerns

Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, which reads “The courts referred to in clause 1 (i.e. the two High Courts of Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak and the inferior courts provided by federal law) shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the syariah courts.”

The Article does not specify what is within the jurisdiction of the syariah courts. It also does not mention that the syariah courts have been elevated to the same status as the civil High Court. Before Article 121(1A) came into existence the decisions of the syariah courts could be reviewed by the civil High Courts. Problems as experienced now did not arise.

Now we see non-Muslims being left in a situation with no legal remedy. Reference is now being made to Malaysia as an Islamic state but this is not provided for in the constitution. Unusually strict conditions are imposed on building plans for non-Muslim places of worship. More often than not approval takes a long time to be issued.

In Sabah, the approval for the construction of a mazu statue was withdrawn after it was approved by the approving authority and the construction was already in an advanced stage. It was not even a place of worship.

Suhakam reports

Suhakam has now prepared and submitted to Parliament 11 annual reports but so far none has been debated in Parliament. This is indicative of the priority given to the promotion and protection of human rights by the government.

Political rights

During the last three to four years there are indications that people generally are showing greater interest and awareness of their political and civil rights. This being the case, they are now more assertive than ever before in their effort to prevent the authorities from denying them of their rights.

The Bersih 3 rally attracted a multi-racial crowd of about 250,000 people on April 28, 2012. Bersih 3 represents a civil society organisation which promotes clean, free and fair elections. It is therefore most surprising that the government saw it fit to declare it as an illegal organisation. A government which subscribes to and practises good governance would surely support any move towards such noble objectives unless, of course, the survival of the government depends on deceits and cheating during elections.

What Bersih 3 stands for represents universal basic democratic values and attributes. Some on the government side accuse it of being infiltrated by communists without providing hard evidence, identifying them or clarifying their understanding of communists. If communists are bad, why is the government having diplomatic relations with communist countries? Others claim that Bersih 3 is trying to overthrow the democratically elected government by force but again without providing any evidence. In any case, how could it be possible when all they had were water bottles and facing a strong police force armed to the teeth.

A Peaceful Assembly Act was quickly approved by Parliament. Under this Act there is no necessity to obtain police permit prior to holding a peaceful assembly. However it imposes very stringent conditions and as expected the people were very unhappy and showed plenty of reservations. Some of the conditions include street protests being disallowed for non-Malaysians and those below 15 years of age. If you are below 21 years of age you are not allowed to organise a protest.

Electoral roll

As the 13th general election draws near, one of the most important tasks at hand is the spring cleaning of the electoral rolls. This task could be farmed out to a suitably qualified, experienced and independent body. It is common knowledge that the electoral roll is tainted. This has been acknowledged by a High Court judge in the case of the Likas state seat of Datuk Yong Teck Lee. The High Court ordered Yong to vacate his seat, ruling that he won it in 1999 with the help of phantom voters. The judge found out that the 1998 electoral roll for the constituency was illegal and the election held in March 1999 was null and void. The judge further observed that it was just the tip of the iceberg. This prompted Parliament to amend the Election Act, whereby the electoral roll once gazetted cannot be challenged in any court of law. This is not right and bad law.

Ratification of core human rights instruments

To date, Malaysia has not signed and ratified the following core international human rights instruments:

? The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);

? The International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (ICSECR);

? The Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

? The International Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Some positive human rights developments

There have been some positive developments. On November 24, 2011 the Emergency Proclamations were revoked. The ISA was repealed. Unfortunately it was replaced by the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 which many feel is just as draconian. Human rights activists feel that the ISA should not have been replaced as there are enough laws available to prosecute all types of offences.

National human rights action plan

Soon after the inception of Suhakam in 2000, it recommended, in 2001, to the government that it should develop and formulate a National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP). After more than 10 years the government finally agreed. Such a plan will help to improve and strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights by placing human rights in the proper context of public policy. It is hoped that quick action will be expedited towards the realisation of the NHRAP.

Land rights of indigenous peoples (IP)

Since Suhakam became operational on April 24, 2000 it has been receiving many complaints in the form of letters, memorandum and in persons related to land issues from the Orang Asli and Orang Asal of Sabah and Sarawak. As the problems did not show any indication of being resolved any time soon, Suhakam decided for the first time to hold a national inquiry into the land rights of the IP of Malaysia.

More than 6,500 IP attended the consultation exercise held throughout the country. A total of 892 statements were recorded and 43 public submissions were received. Suhakam in now in the process of finalising the report which includes recommendations to the relevant authorities.

The IP of Sabah and Sarawak continue to be marginalised and experience being displaced from their traditional territories. When the land which they have been living for generations become accessible to modern infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity supply their land naturally become commercially attractive. That is the time when their existence is very threatened. When the original land occupiers apply for the land, more often than not they do not get any response or if they do it will be one of rejection. Very often the same piece of land is alienated to others who have better influence and connection with people in position of authority.

Another category of IP is usually accused by the authorities of encroaching on forest reserves. Some have had their houses burnt by enforcement personnel. Many IP claim they were there before the area was gazetted as forest reserve.

The majority of IP in Sabah and Sarawak still live in the rural areas, mostly surviving as subsistence farmers. It is also in the rural areas where poverty is rampant and access to educational, medical and health facilities is either limited or non-existent.

There is another very important factor which affects Sabah especially, and that is the unusually large population of illegal immigrants who have now outnumbered Malaysians of Sabah origin. They are quickly changing the social, economic, cultural and political landscape of the state. The UNDP and the World Bank have described Sabah as the poorest state in the country and that at least 50 per cent of the total number of poor people in the country are in Sabah. That is the bottom line. No amount of adjectives could cover such sad state of affairs.

* Presented as input by the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) to the UN Human Rights and Development Theme Group as NGO input for the UPR process. The report was adopted by Proham members at its meeting held on September 29, 2012

* Tan Sri Simon Sipaun is the chairman of Proham.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Regards the article above, only 1 thing to say. Not a word on apartheid? Perhaps that citizen’s lawsuit will have to go ahead without Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, Suaram or Suhakam’s presence after all . . . wish the non-connected citizens and non-connected activists luck in honesty reaching the highest powers of the world (and beyond?) to put an end to the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA (and lapdog liar citizens that cannot say the word APARTHEID).

ARTICLE 5

Malaysia’s elections: Should the international community care? — Ambiga Sreenevasan
October 15, 2012

OCT 15 — Those in the international community may be forgiven for saying, “Is there a problem with the democratic process in Malaysia?”

In the international arena, our leaders portray Malaysia as a moderate Islamic nation that is built on the democratic principles that are enshrined in our Federal Constitution. The fundamental rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, the right to life and a fair electoral process, are indeed guaranteed under our Federal Constitution.

The reality is, however, far less idyllic. There are serious questions whether these rights are respected and upheld by those in power.

Since before the 1990’s, Malaysians have been pushing for a reform of the system of governance. There has been growing discontent over issues like rampant corruption, abuse of power, deaths in custody and selective prosecution (or persecution), to name but a few of the grouses.

We are increasingly alarmed by the use of race and religion by politicians to divide the people for political gain, with no regard whatsoever for the possible long term consequences of this conduct.

We note with disgust our mainstream media descending to the lowest depths of junk journalism. We are appalled at the growing instances of political violence.

In the clearest example of how low we have sunk, human rights defenders and civil society who are seen as opposing the government are facing ruthless attacks by the government of the day. SUARAM, established in 1989 and who has in the past year been exposing possible corruption by Malaysians in high places in the purchase of Scorpene submarines from France, is suddenly facing investigation by several government agencies.

The mainstream media is once again playing its role in showing no regard whatsoever for presenting the whole truth. In a front page news story, preposterous claims were made that NGOs like SUARAM and BERSIH were funded by organisations like National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Open Society Institute (OSI) for the purpose of overthrowing the government. Directors of SUARAM have been hauled up by enforcement agencies for their expose on the corruption, yet our anti- corruption agency fails to even begin to investigate the claims of SUARAM that a huge commission of RM500 million had been received by a Malaysian entity in the Scorpene deal.

Civil society is now continuously portrayed in the media as the enemy who is seeking to overthrow the government at the behest of foreign powers. These accusations have also been hurled at BERSIH, more so since July last year when we had a successful rally of more than 50,000 people on the streets of KL, clamouring for clean and fair elections. Another rally was held in April this year when more than 200,000 people were on the streets, again asking for electoral reform.

Malaysians do not easily take to the streets. The numbers must mean that there were good reasons why they did.

I will not go into more details of the attacks that human rights defenders have had to face by those in authority or those who had the tacit approval of the authorities. Suffice it to say they have been sustained and relentless.

When asked, our leaders will say that this government is reforming because of the replacement of many oppressive laws, and the apparent move to greater democracy. They will say that after the BERSIH rally last year, a parliamentary select committee for electoral reform was set up and a report issued.

What they don’t go on to explain is what replaces these oppressive laws and what they are doing to effectively implement the PSC recommendations. In my view, the new legislation just does not go far enough, and the important recommendations of the PSC report are largely ignored or poorly implemented.

BERSIH also continues to receive reports of electoral malpractices and the integrity of the electoral roll leaves much to be desired. Our Election Commission does not enjoy public confidence and is not seen by many as independent. This together with all the other issues that plague our system of governance leads to the inevitable conclusion that the next crucial general elections will be seriously flawed.

All the so-called reforms are like attempting to varnish a table that is ridden with termites. It is difficult to fix a system that is fundamentally flawed by building on the same rotten foundation. That is, even if there is real political will to reform.

The Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security which is headed by Mr. Kofi Annan and which has many distinguished members including H.E Dr Ernesto Zedillo former President of Mexico, Dr Madeleine K. Albright and Professor Amartya Sen, issued a ground-breaking report on clean and fair elections dated September 2012.

In his foreword, Kofi Annan states, “The spread of democracy across the world has been one of the most dramatic changes I have witnessed over the course of my career. In country after country, people have risked their lives to call for free elections, democratic accountability, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Elections are the indispensable root of democracy…..”

I make no apologies for quoting from this report at length for I cannot say it better. The report clearly outlines that clean and fair elections are not just about choosing leaders, but are about building a solid framework for a democracy that works for the people. After studies, the following were some of the conclusions arrived at:

1. “Elections with integrity are important to values that we hold dear — human rights and democratic principles. Elections give life to rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, the right to take part in the government of one’s country through freely elected representatives, the right of equal access to public service in one’s country, and the recognition that the authority of government derives from the will of the people, expressed in “genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot.

2. Elections are fundamental to the ethos and principles of democracy…..

3. Citizens lose confidence in democratic processes when elections are not inclusive, transparent, and accountable. When elections have integrity, they bolster democracy, respect fundamental rights, and produce elected officials who are more likely to represent their citizens’ interests.

4. But in addition to promoting democratic values and human rights, elections with integrity can also yield other tangible benefits for citizens. Evidence from around the world suggests that elections with integrity matter for empowering women, fighting corruption, delivering services to the poor, improving governance, and ending civil wars…….

5. Electoral accountability, in turn, is associated with lessening government corruption…….

6. Electoral accountability, in turn, has direct benefits for improving representation of the poor……..

7. Even in countries emerging from civil wars — the most difficult of contexts for building democracy — research now shows that when the termination of the war is accompanied by elections in which former combatants run for office and campaign for votes, countries are less likely to revert to civil war. At the same time, however, other studies note that fraudulent elections are correlated with societal violence and political instability…….”

In an interview after the presentation of the report, Stephen Stedman, director of the Global Commission and a political scientist from Stanford was asked what the motivation was for the report.

In speaking of the chairman Kofi Annan, he said that Annan was “driven by his experience of having to deal with several elections in Africa that had become violent and had gone off the rails. And there is a frustration he feels about how little attention had been paid to those places before they blew up”. (The emphasis is mine)

Let us be clear. Malaysia is not facing the problems or the hopelessness that gave rise to the Arab Spring. We are blessed with an abundance of resources and talent. But to assume that all is well and that there is no need to scrutinise the democratic processes, would be a mistake.

We want change before things do blow up in our faces. We do not want an Arab Spring. We want to choose our leaders in clean and fair elections. If there is to be change, we want to do it through the ballot box.

If the government is willing to overlook, and in fact tacitly support, corruption and abuse of power, and promote racism and religious bigotry for its own ends, how can we trust that the elections will be clean and fair?

There is even an admission of malpractices in the past. A Royal Commission of Inquiry has been set up by the government in the state of Sabah in respect of a large number of foreigners having been given citizenships in exchange for votes for more than 20 years. BERSIH has received reports that this practice continues and even in West Malaysia.

Why is this happening? It is because the party that has been in power for 55 years is now feeling vulnerable. As Aung Sang Suu Kyi has famously said, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”

So why should one country be bothered about electoral processes in another?

We know that if any such suggestion is made, the immediate diplomatic response is that there will be no interference by one country into such domestic matters of another country. Not that this is entirely true in fact.

As observed of the international community in the commission report “While their rhetorical support for elections with integrity may be constant, their record of responding to flawed elections is not. In some cases, their interest lies in bolstering a preferred candidate, not in an1 election with integrity per se.

Too often, democratic governments have turned a blind eye to electoral malpractice by regimes and incumbents with whom they have friendly relations”.

And the best answer to why everyone should be interested in clean and fair elections everywhere is stated in the report thus:

“We still live in a world in which states act on their strategic interests. The key lies in reminding democratic governments that their strategic interest is best served by supporting elections with integrity. Not only do democratic governments share an interest in the spread of democracy as a bulwark for international peace, but they must also learn that their bilateral relations are strengthened when their partners have democratic legitimacy earned through genuine elections.”

Malaysia is a member of many important regional and international organisations and appears to enjoy the confidence of its neighbours. We can set valuable examples in the region. We have what it takes to be a role model.

But we can only be that if the example we set is one of a truly democratic system of governance borne out of clean and fair elections. And if we are to be valuable contributors to the global community, then it is in everyone’s interests that our elections are clean and fair.

* Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan is co-chair of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (BERSIH).

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Regards the 2 articles above. Not a word on apartheid? Perhaps that citizen’s lawsuit will have to go ahead without Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, Suaram or Suhakam’s presence after all . . . wish the non-connected citizens and non-connected activists luck in honesty reaching the highest powers of the world (and beyond?) to put an end to the APARTHEID OF BUMIPUTRA (and lapdog liar citizens that cannot say the word APARTHEID). The biggest termites at the table are the ones accepting or causing apartheid by keeping silent about apartheid or being threatening about attempts to remove apartheid.

GE13: Should the global community care? GUEST COLUMNISTS Tuesday, 16 October 2012 : All the so-called reforms are like attempting to varnish a table that is ridden with termites. by S Ambiga, FMT

Those in the international community may be forgiven for saying… “is there a problem with the democratic process in Malaysia?”.

Based on the annual reports prepared by Suhakam, Suaram and the US Department of State and information available from newspaper reports, the human rights situation does not appear to be improving in Malaysia. In some ways it has deteriorated especially in respect of political and civil rights.

According to Suaram, the state of human rights in 2011 was worse than in 2010. Twenty-seven people were detained without trial in 2011. The number was 25 in 2010. There were 25 cases of custodial deaths in 2011 compared to 18 in 2010.

Overcrowding in prisons and places of detention continue to persist. In 2010, the country’s 31 prisons held about 38,387 prisoners designed to hold about 32,600. In August 2010, the secretary-general of the Ministry of Home Affairs acknowledged deficiencies in detention centres as well as their failure to meet international standards.

By August 2011 RELA membership reached 2,690,000. There is great concern that they are not suitably trained and experienced to perform their duties in a professional manner often leading to human rights violations of people they are supposed to protect.

Religious freedom concerns

Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, which reads “The courts referred to in clause 1 (i.e. the two High Courts of Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak and the inferior courts provided by federal law) shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the syariah courts.”

The Article does not specify what is within the jurisdiction of the syariah courts. It also does not mention that the syariah courts have been elevated to the same status as the civil High Court. Before Article 121(1A) came into existence the decisions of the syariah courts could be reviewed by the civil High Courts. Problems as experienced now did not arise.

Now we see non-Muslims being left in a situation with no legal remedy. Reference is now being made to Malaysia as an Islamic state but this is not provided for in the constitution. Unusually strict conditions are imposed on building plans for non-Muslim places of worship. More often than not approval takes a long time to be issued.

In Sabah, the approval for the construction of a mazu statue was withdrawn after it was approved by the approving authority and the construction was already in an advanced stage. It was not even a place of worship.

Suhakam reports

Suhakam has now prepared and submitted to Parliament 11 annual reports but so far none has been debated in Parliament. This is indicative of the priority given to the promotion and protection of human rights by the government.

Political rights

During the last three to four years there are indications that people generally are showing greater interest and awareness of their political and civil rights. This being the case, they are now more assertive than ever before in their effort to prevent the authorities from denying them of their rights.

The Bersih 3 rally attracted a multi-racial crowd of about 250,000 people on April 28, 2012. Bersih 3 represents a civil society organisation which promotes clean, free and fair elections. It is therefore most surprising that the government saw it fit to declare it as an illegal organisation. A government which subscribes to and practises good governance would surely support any move towards such noble objectives unless, of course, the survival of the government depends on deceits and cheating during elections.

What Bersih 3 stands for represents universal basic democratic values and attributes. Some on the government side accuse it of being infiltrated by communists without providing hard evidence, identifying them or clarifying their understanding of communists. If communists are bad, why is the government having diplomatic relations with communist countries? Others claim that Bersih 3 is trying to overthrow the democratically elected government by force but again without providing any evidence. In any case, how could it be possible when all they had were water bottles and facing a strong police force armed to the teeth.

A Peaceful Assembly Act was quickly approved by Parliament. Under this Act there is no necessity to obtain police permit prior to holding a peaceful assembly. However it imposes very stringent conditions and as expected the people were very unhappy and showed plenty of reservations. Some of the conditions include street protests being disallowed for non-Malaysians and those below 15 years of age. If you are below 21 years of age you are not allowed to organise a protest.

Electoral roll

As the 13th general election draws near, one of the most important tasks at hand is the spring cleaning of the electoral rolls. This task could be farmed out to a suitably qualified, experienced and independent body. It is common knowledge that the electoral roll is tainted. This has been acknowledged by a High Court judge in the case of the Likas state seat of Datuk Yong Teck Lee. The High Court ordered Yong to vacate his seat, ruling that he won it in 1999 with the help of phantom voters. The judge found out that the 1998 electoral roll for the constituency was illegal and the election held in March 1999 was null and void. The judge further observed that it was just the tip of the iceberg. This prompted Parliament to amend the Election Act, whereby the electoral roll once gazetted cannot be challenged in any court of law. This is not right and bad law.

Ratification of core human rights instruments

To date, Malaysia has not signed and ratified the following core international human rights instruments:

? The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);

? The International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (ICSECR);

? The Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

? The International Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Some positive human rights developments

There have been some positive developments. On November 24, 2011 the Emergency Proclamations were revoked. The ISA was repealed. Unfortunately it was replaced by the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 which many feel is just as draconian. Human rights activists feel that the ISA should not have been replaced as there are enough laws available to prosecute all types of offences.

National human rights action plan

Soon after the inception of Suhakam in 2000, it recommended, in 2001, to the government that it should develop and formulate a National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP). After more than 10 years the government finally agreed. Such a plan will help to improve and strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights by placing human rights in the proper context of public policy. It is hoped that quick action will be expedited towards the realisation of the NHRAP.

Land rights of indigenous peoples (IP)

Since Suhakam became operational on April 24, 2000 it has been receiving many complaints in the form of letters, memorandum and in persons related to land issues from the Orang Asli and Orang Asal of Sabah and Sarawak. As the problems did not show any indication of being resolved any time soon, Suhakam decided for the first time to hold a national inquiry into the land rights of the IP of Malaysia.

More than 6,500 IP attended the consultation exercise held throughout the country. A total of 892 statements were recorded and 43 public submissions were received. Suhakam in now in the process of finalising the report which includes recommendations to the relevant authorities.

The IP of Sabah and Sarawak continue to be marginalised and experience being displaced from their traditional territories. When the land which they have been living for generations become accessible to modern infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity supply their land naturally become commercially attractive. That is the time when their existence is very threatened. When the original land occupiers apply for the land, more often than not they do not get any response or if they do it will be one of rejection. Very often the same piece of land is alienated to others who have better influence and connection with people in position of authority.

Another category of IP is usually accused by the authorities of encroaching on forest reserves. Some have had their houses burnt by enforcement personnel. Many IP claim they were there before the area was gazetted as forest reserve.

The majority of IP in Sabah and Sarawak still live in the rural areas, mostly surviving as subsistence farmers. It is also in the rural areas where poverty is rampant and access to educational, medical and health facilities is either limited or non-existent.

There is another very important factor which affects Sabah especially, and that is the unusually large population of illegal immigrants who have now outnumbered Malaysians of Sabah origin. They are quickly changing the social, economic, cultural and political landscape of the state. The UNDP and the World Bank have described Sabah as the poorest state in the country and that at least 50 per cent of the total number of poor people in the country are in Sabah. That is the bottom line. No amount of adjectives could cover such sad state of affairs.

* Presented as input by the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) to the UN Human Rights and Development Theme Group as NGO input for the UPR process. The report was adopted by Proham members at its meeting held on September 29, 2012

* Tan Sri Simon Sipaun is the chairman of Proham.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

National human rights action plan – Soon after the inception of Suhakam in 2000 . . . this is a joke that never materialised, no point mentioning as if this ‘action’ that never saw anyone taken to task for the Rakyat occured, was something worth listing.

Suhakam and Suaram are the tightest lipped whenever addressing citizen inequality due to Bumiputra.

If Proham was worth anything Proham would have filed a lawsuit against Bumiputra system or for not having signed and ratified the listed core international human rights instruments by now.

This lack of legal perhaps at the UN against Bumiputra action shows that Suhakam, Suaram and Proham, have not been doing their duty as NGOs.

Bersih 3 should not even be mentioned. Shameless apologism for hooliganism of Bersih in this article. We want LAWSUITS against all racist MPs that keep the Bumiputra based 2 citizenship system in in Malaysia and racist political parties as well. Not this support of Bersih cronies that cannot even say ‘apartheid’.

ARTICLE 7

Russian leaders hail local election results – 10-16-2012 11:27 BJT

Early results show Russian President Vladimir Putin’s loyalists sweeping to victory in most local election races across the country.

The Central Election Commission’s results show Kremlin-backed candidates and incumbent governors winning all five races for governors held on Sunday. Putin’s United Russia party also dominates mayoral races and those for local legislatures held in 77 of Russia’s 83 regions.

Putin says the results confirm voters’ intention of supporting the existing authorities. And Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is the chairman of the party, also hailed the results.

Dmitry Medvedev said, “Everybody expected a fiasco for the party after the December elections, let’s be honest about it. And this was not because the party did extremely badly then, still everybody kept saying about the downward trend and that the situation is getting out of control. Nothing of this kind took place. Secondly, more parties took part in the elections, but the result is better. This is a fact. This means we are not afraid of democracy. We need it, in order to make our party strong.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Whats this? Russia has Local Council Elections but Malaysia under Pakatan which promised but failed to hold Local Council Elections doesn’t?

KUALA LUMPUR: The sentence to be meted out for rape of underage girls (below 16 years) should remain at the discretion of the court, former chief justice Tun Zaki Tun Azmi said on Tuesday.

He said it was inappropriate to set the penalty for the offence as there were several factors, such as the facts of the case, before a sentence could be imposed on an offender.

“In a case of an older man raping an underage girl, he deserves to be given a heavy sentence, which is imprisonment and whipping. There is no question about that.

“But, in a case involving young couples, is the girl not at fault at all?

“I say that both of them are guilty, and is it fair if only the man is penalised?” he asked reporters after a dialogue by the Special Commission To Study Transformation of the Public Service at the Craft Complex here.

In such cases, he said, normally police reports were lodged after the girls’ parents found out.

On the proposal to amend Section 376 of the Penal Code pertaining to penalty for rape of an underage girl, he said a comprehensive study should be conducted to avoid injustice.

He said injustice could also happen in cases involving incest, if only the man was to be punished as there had been cases involving women.

“This matter has to be looked into from a wider aspect. To me, the best solution is to ensure youngsters don’t have sexual relationships until they are married,” he added.

He said this when asked to comment on a statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday, that the government had given permission for the Attorney-General’s Chambers to amend Section 376 of the Penal Code to provide for a mandatory jail sentence on those convicted of raping an underage girl. – Bernama

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

I strongly believe that in all instances rape here means ‘statuary rape’ as in ‘sama suka sama’ despite the age. The judge should consider this and the ex-CJ should not fear demogoguery or the coterie of rabid feminists who cannot tell the difference between ‘technicality or ‘word of law’ CONSENSUAL sex *considered* statuary rape and actual non-consensual rape. The calendar based age is hardly a fair manner in which to base a judgment on and is not biological age, and in the case of consensual sex between individuals (regardless of age – AGEISM is as bad as racism, sex between older and younger or young and young persons does not discriminate between calendar age at the heat of the actual biological age moment though the disciplined of mind can certainly resist . . . but what? Society’s bias? Someone is a viable mate biologically though not calendarically?

KUALA LUMPUR: THE Auditor-General said national sewerage company Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK), had suffered net losses over three consecutive years largely due to its low tariff – which has not been raised since 1994.

IWK accumulated losses of RM888.81mil between 2008 and 2010, which is also partly due to rising operational costs and loss of income due to various decisions by the Federal Government.

Based on its audited financial statements, the company’s revenue was eclipsed by its operational costs in 2008 (RM555.04mil revenue, RM596.34mil operational costs) and 2010 (RM607.14mil revenue, RM669.11mil operational costs).

The company saw its revenue top its operational expenditure in 2009 (RM713.30mil revenue, RM647.07mil operational costs) but still ended up with RM33.11mil in losses after tax that year.

The report pointed out that the company’s revenue took hits from the Government’s 2004 decision to lower the commercial sewerage tariff, and the 2008 implementation of the Water Services Industry Act 2006 which no longer required IWK to handle scheduled management of individual and communal septic tanks.

To ensure its rate is compatible with the current situation, the A-G said the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry, Finance Ministry and the National Water Services Commission should support IWK’s application to increase the country’s sewerage tariff.

In response, IWK said it had put forward a proposal to increase the sewerage tariff based on water usage to the ministries concerned and the National Water Services Commission through the Company Business Plan 2009.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Rubbish. How about the Rakyat vote for MPs that will lower all Ministerial salaries and top level bureaucrat pensions to average annual wage levels instead of accepting this suggestion for passing the burden to the Rakyat?

ARTICLE 10

1MCA Micro Credit Loan Scheme for Youth

The details of the framework are as follows:

1. Who can apply?

Malaysian citizen over age 21 to 45 years. The applicant is required to be a member of KOJADI with RM110 initial shares and Membership entrance fees.

2. Purpose of micro credit?

i) For expansion of business.

ii) As start up cost of new business venture.

3. Tenure of the micro credit?

From 1 year to maximum 5 years.

4. What is the loan ceiling?

Maximum of RM20,000.

5. What is the amount of processing fee?

Payment of loan processing fees RM200.00 will be deducted from the approved loan

15.Once a borrower has paid off the loan, can he or she apply for second loan?

Yes.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

While less than bank interest, and safer than some loan sharks, MCA is profiteering still. To be really helpful, the loan interest should match the bank’s interest rate which is no more than 2% for all deposits. That way MCA can say, they are not making anything at all from the loans. And this is per Annum and at compound levels if I’m not mistaken. Not very sincere.

ARTICLE 11

Chang Ming Thien Foundation

When the Foundation officially commenced its operations in 2004,a total of RM 3 million was allocated for the first batch of 240 students for higher education in local and overseas institutions of higher learning. Due to good response, the foundation approved interest-free study loans for 301 students in 2005 totaling RM3.82 million. Each successful applicant was given a loan of RM4,000 per year. They are to repay the loan after 4 months of their graduation for the term of 5 years.

Being an apolitical establishment, the criteria guideline for the loan application of the fund are students from the poor families with good results regardless of race to undertake further studies abroad such as Taiwan, Ukraine, Russia, China, Australia, Singapore, USA, Canada, Indonesia and New Zealand etc.

Eligibility

An applicant shall be a Malaysian citizen of 18 years or above;
An applicant shall have gained admission into a local or overseas institution of higher learning approved and recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education, the National Accreditation Board (LAN), the Public Services Department, or the Foundation to pursue an undergraduate course or above approved by the Foundation; and
The Application shall be supported by relevant documents including proof of financial constraints.

Application

The application shall be made in the form prescribed by the Foundation and subject to its Regulations. The application form and procedures can be obtained from the Foundation’s Secretariat at MCA Headquarters, 9th Floor, Wisma MCA, 163 Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur. Tel : 03-2161 6517, Fax : 03-2164 4227, E-mail : doris@kojadi.com.my or choonghj@kojadi.com.my.
The duly completed application form together with the requisite documents shall be submitted to the Board Secretariat on or before 15 August 2012.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

3 million only?!? MCA’s top term limitless MPs are worth BILLIONS or hundreds of millions individually and I’ll almost wager at least the top 30% of MCA wealthiest drink at least 3 million in fine wines or liquor yearly, and food every year or travel or support mistresses at that sort of expenditure! How many bottles of Hennesy or Louis 13 do MCA members buy in total? More than 3 million per annum for sure! Meanwhile MCA does not make a sound about apartheid! Cynical levels of ‘investment’. Thats barely 800 4K loans MCA expects to give out to the millions of Chinese citizens! You’d think a foundation that featured so strongly on MCA’s website would at least be 300 million. Guess what? Koon Yew Yin a single individual under the ‘KOON YEW YIN SCHOLARSHIP’ has set aside 30 million for loans! And this mere 3 million needs a board of trustees? Horrendous! In the same breath though, Koon, has also been equally ‘delicate’ about addressing apartheid in any honest fashion.

Perhaps us third forcer activists of far less means would make a deeper impression on ending apartheid in Malaysia than these gret personalities with so much cash but so incapable of ending apartheid . . . Guess what, 30 million behind a certain activist individual’s access would easily topple all so-called selfish term limitless Chinese MPs via a simple plan of proxy candidates to end apartheid most courageously as opposed to this tiptoeing around by MCA and DAP via 3rd Force. Koon what say you to this 3rd Force plan? Have the age, the ethos, the charisma and respect but dare not move? Cynical again if so!

Now back to trying to shut out the uncouth loud mouth voices of the idiot P** 8007 neighbours who seem unhealthily interested in the toilet habits and sleeping habits of those around them (. . . no . . . no . . . good girl/b1tch . . . hoo hoo ha ha . . . cackle snark . . . shrieking children . . . ) on cue no less, probably have a hidden cam somewhere trained on my backyard, perhaps a nice lawsuit for being rowdies . . . Under BN-UMNO’s pro-apartheid employ? Traitors to UN Human Rights principles then who need to be done away with . . . ) idiot 3rd worlders in high density neighbourhoods need to get a life and learn to shut up so that a semblance of civilisation can at least dignify the bastardy of some neighbourhoods.

“The tort of nuisance, for example, involves strict liability for a neighbor who interferes with another’s enjoyment of his real property.” 8007’s loudmouths are interfering.

“Trespass allows owners to sue for entrances by a person (or his structure, such as an overhanging building) on their land.”

There was a fat b1tch neighbour with a child who entered illegally someone’s home if I recall . . .

Seen some of the dog attack cases? Word . . . maybe if we’re lucky, the ground will open up and swallow up these sorts (we can’t count on packs of wild animals now can we? Maybe pigeons could flash mob like Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Birds’ or Noodle’s Afredo’s ‘Rats’ (undated) along with the racists and term limitless politicians or even NGOs and that never address the Apartheid of Bumiputra.

That or a landslide puts an end to the noise and stupidity, doesn’t take a ‘tolerant Karadzic’ (aka the ‘Beast of Bosnia’ . . . Rabban Harkonnen anyone?) to understand why defense against genocide takes on the nature of genocide.

Scum does not deserve a place in society but the fiat system and fractitious educational, political and enforcement system has made it possible for hooting/hollering mob-minded pariahs and cavemen to climb over the heads of their intellectual, ethical and civilisational superiors . . . now back to some hobbies and later fapping to some fav/b porn, then planning for 3rd Force to toppple oppressive governmennts while the cynical farts of extreme wealth and reputation dance shamelessly around the Bumiputra Apartheid issue and Malaysia’s lack of (despite BN’s mandate and ability to immediately grant but doesn’t) :

Spiritual Petititon Against Removal of Incandescent Bulbs (Amongst Other Things Like ‘Bell’ Phones and Non-Electronic Engines In Cars)

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Guess what, the 1% will be the only ones to have their own last incandescent bulbs in the world (probably from private manufacturing technologies) while no one else can have any to sequester spirits by a theory. The warm light of incandescents are attractive to certain spirit portions of a human being’s spirits under a certain theory called “Ghost in the Machine”, and these will congregate at the last places on Earth with incandescents, or at least spirits to iunhabit any machines or AI. Do not vote for the MPs who ratify the bill and consider those who support ending of incandescents very evil people who want to bar access to certain applications of incandescents (candles and oil lamps are superior but not durable on long distance or rough applications).

Continuation of GITM/GITS theory : These spirits are borne by the third gender hermaphrodites IMHO who produce spirit progeny that some governments now breed via a form of psychic rape and insertion of the bodiless spirits into cehicles phones and other technology that grant longevity. That is also another reason for complex nuclear weapon or complex missile stockpiles that may never be used. The spirits of humanity (which are self replicating in the 3rd gender effectively) are tied to these machines and weapons which will be dismantled, and when the original human owner dies, the machines/weapons will sequester the eternal soul of that human (fully formed or not) for all eternity if properly maintained, and this is a form of SPIRITUAL IMPRISONMENT which physical prisons inculpate into humans while they are living. Sinister but SPIRITUAL ENSLAVEMENT is going on these days.

That is why the violent and poor dispositions of the spiritually weaker citizens, the disruptive and destructive policies of politicians who hate society (they may smile but their hearts are evil by the policy they write, the high fines, the refusal to redistribute unused state land to the homeless, the abuse of by-laws that impinge on sovereign rights of landowners, leasing rather than selling land, refusing to share the wealth of the nation equitably but enriching only a handful of cronies even though that wealth belongs to all citizens, being term limitless and killing democracy to become Satraps and Feudal rather than stepping down in 2 terms, even refusing to introduce term limits to MP’s or Assemblyman’s seats – the PM or President’s seat is usually term limited in most nations but MPs and Senators and Givernors form a severe barrier to political power and hence wealth distribution . . . is a sign of an evil and power mad souls that need to be ‘Gaddafied’ and ‘Mubarak-ed’ or ‘Ben-Ali-ed’ etc..) because society has taken their ‘soul’, the binge drinking, the taking of drugs to alter consciousness of the lower classes are thus more attempts to recall lost souls that crass matter has swallowed up via consumerism due to social conditioning. Spirituality lowered into material things, especially offensive are technology that in many ways are a mockery of organic and sentient life that I strongly believe Christians are fond of binding into! Governments and religions which prohibit drugs or alcohol are harvesting the citizens’ souls and need to be removed.

How do we identify these governments or MPs or Governers at a glance?

Just look for the MPs, Governors who refuse to distribute unused state land, or ratify Allodial titles or introduce Term Limits, and you will find your Imprisoners of Souls . . . because by denying access to living space and food security via refusal to amend wealth and land distribution laws, they drive the souls of citizens to gross matter (and disruptive behaviour) instead. Those who ratify the bill intend to oppress the people spiritually if not, are inadvertently on the wrong side. This level of consciousness of souls I speak of is very rare from life experience in studying the science of politics and then APPLYING what I learnt . . . and those who do know the spiritual theory behind the logic of this supposedly energy saving action, will never vote for any MP or Governor who ratify this, rather than ratify distribution of land under Allodial titles or ending fiat.

What is to stop people from powering their own incandescent bulbs via solar power or independent source? Don’t use the energy saving nonsense as an excuse especially for those who use independent sources to power such bulbs. This is a form of psychic oppression that perhaps Electronic White Zones and ending of all prohibitions on any and all activities or any and all objects like incandescents or even older technologies like 286 or earlier computers (which can be produced . . . I think my 586’s soul was stolen by a local computer repair shop if not lost somehow, probably will recall that particular soul when repaired, but that will be a lost skill by the time some of us learn of what is going on in society – then considering the convoluted paths such souls take, for sure, do expect a destructive Earthquake or Solar Flare when the wrongfully lost ones are reunited with the rightful owners . . . but I digress, so back to the subject.

Remember to never vote for politicians ready to ratify ending of incandescents ever again! Do however demand that your MP or Governor, Congressman, Assebmblyman sign statuary declarations for ratifications of Allodial Titles, removal of Eminent Domain and to redistribute national wealth like minerals, oil or platations on penalty of vacating the political seat. Get the Judiciary to hold these statuary declarations as weapons to ensure equitable resource distribution. The whole country belongs to everyone not a handful of cronies – so long as there are poor people around, there is no tolerance for ANY GLC linked or bureaucrat or Cabinet multi-millionaires and billionaires. Do not presume that a plutocrat politician works harder than the menials or 99%ters. ‘Trickle down’ doesn’t work. Entire portions of the populace are disenfranchised by term limitless politicians who have sat in power for decades that will not and have never ratified unused state land distribution. Vote anyone who has sat in any seat for more than 2 terms out. That way they will try to make a difference, not try to prolong the voters’ effective financial support of these parasites who willingly introduce VAT and GST or raise fines, but never distribute unused state land or the mineral or plantation wealth of the nation.

As for lightbulbs, circadian rhythm disruption is primarily caused by the wrong timing of light in reference to the circadian phase. It can also be affected by too much light, too little light, or incorrect spectral composition of light. This effect is driven by stimulus (or lack of stimulus) to photosensitive ganglion cells in the retina. The “time of day”, the circadian phase, is signalled to the pineal gland, the body’s photometer, by the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Bright light in the evening or in the early morning or certain types of light (non-incandescent unrecognisable as light) shifts the phase of the production of melatonin (see phase response curve). An out-of-sync melatonin rhythm can worsen cardiac arrhythmias and increase oxidized lipids in the ischemic heart. Melatonin also reduces superoxide production and myeloperoxide (an enzyme in neutrophils which produces hypochlorous acid) during ischemia-reperfusion. Guess what effects on the ether this has? Boom . . .

Najib said people have taken the country’s adoption of the Chinese education system for granted. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 ― The Chinese community should embrace Bahasa Malaysia as it is the country’s national language, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said this morning.

Speaking on Mandarin radio channel Melody FM, Najib also reassured listeners that Chinese education will be part of the exercise to improve quality of education under the National Education Blueprint.

Responding to demands by pressure group Dong Zong, the United Chinese School Committees Association, the premier reminded listeners that Malaysia has always recognised Chinese schools.

“We are the only country outside China which has Chinese education as part of the national system. We have recognised Chinese education in Malaysia, and I think that is of huge, great significance.

“Please see that in that context, in that perspective, that we have recognised Chinese education as part of the national system,” he said.

Najib also added, “I believe we don’t have any kind of stigma. My own son, Ashman, speaks fluent Mandarin.

“I believe it is good for the Malays to learn Mandarin just as it is important for Malaysian Chinese to be fluent in Bahasa (Malaysia) as Bahasa, of course, is our national language.”

He also revealed that the Cabinet is looking into implementing an eight-point plan to address the shortage of teachers for Chinese vernacular schools, drawn from roundtable meetings involving various stakeholders including Dong Zong.

The implementation will be overseen by one of the two deputy ministers from the Education Ministry.

The group accused the Education Ministry earlier this year of “deliberately” creating a dearth of trained Mandarin-speaking teachers as part of a larger conspiracy to re-engineer the identities of vernacular schools.

Dong Zong had last month submitted a memorandum on the matter to the prime minister.

Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz later stated that the demands were reasonable, but this view was dismissed by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as “a personal one”.

In today’s talk show, Najib also revealed that the neighbourhood night patrols announced in Budget 2013 will be launched early this December.

Replying to a caller, the prime minister clarified that 1,000 police officers on motorcycles will be patrolling in pairs in select neighbourhoods, and that RM20 million was allocated for the programme.

During the #TanyaNajib event on YouTube earlier this month, Najib also told viewers that he was excited for the crime-fighting initiative as it was his idea.

Later in the radio programme, Najib, who is also finance minister, reiterated that only 1.7 million Malaysians out of 12 million workers were paying income tax.

In Budget 2013, Najib announced a 1 per cent tax cut for workers with taxable incomes of between RM2,500 and RM50,000. Analysts see the move as paving the way for the goods and services tax (GST) that the Najib administration has been weighing but was forced to delay due to fears of voter backlash.

Najib also insisted that middle class Malaysians do reap indirect benefits from government policies, through subsidies such as for RON95 petrol.

“Although we pay slightly more (for car purchases) initially, but because of the large amount of subsidies, you end up paying much less than your counterpart after five years of use,” he

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

i) Speak Malay, PM tells Chinese community

Be happy to. But first grant equality in citizenships via the below 3 items :

;and do remember that as per UN and worldwide legal rights of all groups, the right to not speak any language is a right of all citizens of the world. Just because a citizen happens to be staying in a certain geological/cultural/linguistic region does not mean that they have to speak any language or accept less than equal citizenships for being ethinically different or having a different faith or no faith at all. I think BN is going to lose the GE13 election given PM Najib’s refusal to endorse universal human rights values or admitting that the Apartheid of Bumiputra is very wrongful and illegal and instead telling the already oppressed second class citizenship afflicted minorities to ‘speak Malay’. People will speak Malay out of love of the language and the treatment they receive as citizens, not because a PM says to ‘speak Malay’. The minorities instead tell the PM to ‘End the Apartheid of Bumiputra’.

ii) The group accused the Education Ministry earlier this year of “deliberately” creating a dearth of trained Mandarin-speaking teachers as part of a larger conspiracy to re-engineer the identities of vernacular schools.

No smoke without fire. And there is a ver big fire in the form of Bumiputra Apartheid.

iii) In Budget 2013, Najib announced a 1 per cent tax cut for workers with taxable incomes of between RM2,500 and RM50,000. Analysts see the move as paving the way for the goods and services tax (GST) that the Najib administration has been weighing but was forced to delay due to fears of voter backlash.

Make moi PM and see a 50% cut in taxes to the same group, as well as a 50% cut in all Minister, MP and assemblyman salaries.

iv) Najib also insisted that middle class Malaysians do reap indirect benefits from government policies, through subsidies such as for RON95 petrol.

RON95 fuel may be cheaper, but the amount of wealth that goes to the 99% of citizens is 1% of the fuel revenues. Just look at the wealth of the 1% of the population who are Oil related Ministers and Bureaucrats, or people working in oil companies as opposed to 99% of the Rakyat. I’d say Najib is not being honest at all in approaching the Rakyat with obviously skewed ‘feel good’ facts. I guess GE13 should be won by 3rd Force or Pakatan Rakyat (equally bad as BN but at least not entrenched – the Rakyat must prepare to kick out the nepotists and term limitless or fundos immediately or another BN-UMNO will arise by the time Pakatan consolidates power . . . ) if 3rd Force fails to organize in time.

v) In Budget 2013, Najib announced a 1 per cent tax cut for workers with taxable incomes of between RM2,500 and RM50,000.

1%? What kind of joke is this? The bank GIVES depositors 2% interest! Is the government worse than a bank now, chettiar par exellence? Make moi PM and see a 50% cut in taxes to the same group, as well as a 50% cut in all Minister, MP and assemblyman salaries or to the level of National Average Annual Wage.

As for Malaysia being the only country outside China that recognises Chinese education, this ‘recogntion’ is due to the Apartheid of Bumiputra and the extreme racism by certain factions of the Muslim Malays against Chinese that necessitated ‘Chinese education’. This is a mark of shame for Malaysia not something to be proud of ‘Najib’. Perhaps President Hu Jintao of the PRC and the UN needs to make some things very clear to PM Najib about equality and fair treatment of citizens or at least about honesty in making statements. Whats the value of being a racist against races that are destined to rule the world? Might as well make peace by granting the above 3 items now than suffer millenia of extraction of debt at interest? The Chinese community demands equality, nothing more. If Najib does not understand this, GE13 will be lost and another PM would have failed the Malay people in dignifying the Malay people by treating all humans as equals and not afflicting with apartheid on the good citizens of different ethnicity and different faith out of fear and jealousy or simply out of what previous racist UMNO leaders (barring a failed Tun Hussein Onn PM from 1976 to 1981 who almost secularized Malaysia – Turkish style) did. The apartheid via Islam, and ethnicity racism problem extends to East Malaysia as well :

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin was put on the defensive on the issue of race at a forum last night but deflected some criticism by acknowledging that race-based politics could hurt the country.

Khairy said in a response to questions about 1 Malaysia, which aimed to strengthen unity among the different ethnic groups in the country, that there was no conflict in having Malaysians adopt several identities but that a Malaysian identity should be the ultimate goal.

“If you put a gun to my head, I will answer I am Malaysian first,” he said at a forum on economic development organised by the Chevening Alumni of Malaysia here. “That is the aspiration.”

He also said in response to another question whether racial baggage will drag Malaysia down that Malaysia was “crying out” for a true multi-racial party.

“The more entrenched ethnic parties are in politics, the more ethnicity will figure in policy making,” he said.

Khairy added that while parties that are based on policies and ideologies were the way forward, the current dominance of race-based parties could reflect Malaysian society.

“It could also be how society looks at themselves,” he said.

Khairy found common ground on some racial issues with DAP lawmaker Tony Pua, who was also at the forum, and crossed swords on others.

The audience in rapt attention as Khairy delivers his talk at the forum on October 17, 2012.
Pua had said that government assistance should be based on need and not race as it mainly benefited the elite of the privileged race and led to the brain drain of those who felt discriminated against.

He also pointed out that the gap between the rich and poor was highest within the Bumiputera community as the Malay elites grew wealthy on government assistance.

“We must get out of the mindset of providing help based on race,” he said. “The more you define policies based on race, those who benefit are the elites who are in the best positioned to exploit the policies.”

Khairy said however that while he agreed that poverty eradication should be based on need, he saw a “gray area” where government assistance was required to nurture a Bumiputera business community.

“It’s about restructuring society,” said Khairy.

He added that he was against non-deserving Bumiputeras getting loans and contracts.

“When you talk about there being no non-Malay secretaries-general in the government, you’d also be hard pressed to find a Malay CEO of a non-Malay company,” he said. “There are silos and divisions in society.”

Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) MP Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, who was also a speaker at the forum, said that the previous tactics of pitting non-Malays against Malays over economic issues will no longer work.

He noted that the government, which is controlled by Umno, was in charge of not only the federal budget but also GLCs (government-linked companies) which when combined accounted for between 60-65 per cent of the country’s GDP.

“Sixty to 65 per cent of Malaysia’s economy is controlled by the Malay elite,” said Jeyakumar. “The Malays in the kampungs are not stupid. They know it’s about bad governance and not about non-Malays.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Too little too late and the content of the discussion assures that racism appears very much alive in this character’s intent. All about political survival only? Meaningless person.

“If you put a gun to my head, I will answer I am Malaysian first,” he said at a forum on economic development organised by the Chevening Alumni of Malaysia here. “That is the aspiration.” Begone from the presence of the pure among us! Such foul intent in simple words. Why mention ‘gun’ at all?

*I* as minority people living here in Malaysia, are WORLD CITIZENS *NOT* Malaysians. Eventually world government will be formed if abuses as in Malaysia are a sign of what individual nation states promise to inflict on sovereign citizens. First will form EUs, ASEANs, AUs, then eventually when all the differences between people and cultures and religions have been given their own spaces and bridges or taboos or necessary silos created to ensure uniquness and diversity are done, the word ‘Malaysian’ will eventually disappear.

We are ALL ETHNIC minorities until the below 3 items are granted. The Malays are an ethnic minority in the context of the world. Small minded micro-view KJ can be a Malaysian under a Malay tempurong of selfish hatred and refusal to admit wrongs and harm done to many. The macro view citizens will never subscribe to being ‘merely’ Malaysian. Why not identify with the biggest and most powerful nation? Conversely, if small or weak nations are not petty minded, some measure of ‘Malaysian’ will survive. Do not subvert true aspirations with LIES.

Perhaps Malaysia will not even exist by 2020 or as soon as possible the next war in Asia – *that* may well be the aspiration for such an insulting, presumptuous and indirect address of minorities. ‘Malaysia first’ IS *NOT AND NEVER WILL BE* the aspiration. Unoriginal, and selfish being an aspiration is nonsense for all but racists and extreme Muslims. Malaysia will be LAST aspiration (if the sea levels do not swallow up the miserable place) if some term limitless beneficiary of nepotism people presume to speak for others. The ones with the right, will write a script that a certain racist kris bearer *bumiputra* who has not apologized to the minority communities to suffer for such presumption . . . Gun to who’s head? Is someome threatening violence against what the UN and brotherhood of nations agreed on after WW2? EQUALITY OF MAN.

The small minded fool children of thieves of the Rakyat’s monies, of thieves of the Rakyat’s stolen contracts and stolen business opportunities, the givers of lost Oil blocs who now dare threaten HUMAN EQUALITY and subvert high minded aspirations to equality with lame apartheid form Malaysian-ness? The arrogant, the proud and the haughty the abusive while in power . . . will not and do not deserve to address the worthy minded among Rakyat who abhor apartheid and nepotism or crony contracts (which Khairy is famous for, and worryingly now Tony Pua who is cosying up to Khairy alot but not mentioning ending APARTHEID of BUMIPUTRA). Article 1 of the UN Human Rights Charter will not tolerate any metaphorical or real guns against any metaphorical or real head (either and both heads for the guys) and definitely *NOT* any aspiration that puts a broken political junta politician run country as Malaysia currently is or Malaysians first. 2 terms over so GTFO of the Dewan, shameless beneficiary of nepotism! The 3 items listed below are the ONLY ASPIRATION at this human level (to the Muslims Dunia’) for now at least :

The most democratic and powerful countries will be forever the FIRST. The apartheid countries, fundo countries, thieves and liars and enemies of the above true aspirations will be the very LAST. Fools who stand in the path of the righteous and the strong will be destroyed across all times and realities . . . Since Khairy Jamaluddin is supposed to be a Muslim, enter that mosque the next time, with the dirt of Bumiputra Apartheid in the ether of lies and ill intent to the Rakyat and to the great among us working for a better (free tertiary education world) and hopefully whatever God resides there will see fit to correct this term limitless farce.

Since Khairy Jamaluddin is supposed to be a Muslim, let God (or Allah) be reminded to send Khairy Jamaluddin to the nineteen angels of Jahannam, aka Neraka at Neraka . . . along with all the evil souls in Malaysia who refuse to grant the above 3 items. Hellfires burn forever do they not? Retaliate on the physical plane with a gun threat thoughtless barbarian . . . 2 terms over GTFO of the Dewan, shameless beneficiary of nepotism! The other citizens especially non-racist Malays (I fairly must defer to correctly 3 item aspired Malays as having more right to be MP ahead of all minoriy races) who would prefer to aspire to the above 3 items rather than a vague meaningless Khairy Jamaluddin’s being ‘Malaysian with a gun to their head’ deserve to head Rembau’s MPship! The Jamalluddins have sequestered enough wealth to last 100 generations and given away 1000 times of the Rakyat’s National Oil Wealth in Oil Blocs just recently, GTFO of Dewan and enjoy what wealth of the Rakyat that will eventually be reclaimed by the poor ‘Malaysians’! If article is considered actionable, please warn, I will remove if requested. Crypto-racism is the same as intent to cause a Holocaust, and sitting with a Chinese lapdog from an opposition party who dares not declare assets is not the same as denouncing apartheid.

FALSELY ACCUSED- Former grassroots leader claims personal attacks drove him to quit the party

KAJANG: A former DAP grassroots leader yesterday claimed that he was a victim of the party’s unjust and corrupt practices, which led to his disillusionment and subsequent withdrawal from DAP in 2011.

Former DAP Damai Perdana branch chairman Tan Han Kuo said in 2009, he was falsely accused of exposing alleged irregularities over transactions involving a DAP local government councillor and the party.

“The reason I quit DAP was due to a run-in involving myself, (Kajang councillor) Lee Kee Hiong and her uncle, Lee Wye Wing.

“Three years ago, Kee Hiong accused me of leaking information about her uncle getting state government contracts.

“But I did not have any knowledge about it,” he said here on Tuesday.

Tan said Kee Hiong, who was previously DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang’s personal aide, had subsequently mounted personal attacks on him by calling party meetings to condemn Tan and accusing him of fabricating rumours.

“However, on Aug 30, 2010, online news portal Selangor Daily eventually published a story which implicated her in the alleged wrongdoing.

“Also, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the death of Teoh Beng Hock in June last year revealed that Wye Ying had in fact received such contracts.”

Teoh was the political aide of DAP’s Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah who was taken into the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on July 15, 2009 for questioning about allegations of corruption. However, was found dead the next morning on the rooftop of a building adjacent to the MACC offices.

Tan said following the expose, he had decided to resign from all party positions in protest over Kee Hiong’s “unscrupulous defamation” attempts against him.

He also expressed deep disappointment in the DAP disciplinary committee for not acting against Kee Hiong.

“To rub salt into the wound, Kee Hiong was appointed DAP Selangor committee member in 2010 despite losing badly during that year’s state party election.

“The appointment was made against the will of the state party members and it was completely against the spirit of democracy.”

He recounted that last year, Kee Hiong had renewed her attacks by accusing him of receiving “a few hundred thousand ringgit” from the MCA to gather and divulge DAP’s secrets.

“I had immediately lodged a complaint with the DAP disciplinary committee to clear my name, but I was summarily ignored,” he added.

“I was very disappointed with the unjust and corrupt practices of DAP, so I chose to leave the party entirely later that year.”

Tan’s account of his experience in DAP comes after another former DAP grassroots leader, Tan Tuan Tat, left the party in August, declaring that “democracy is dead in the party”.

– New Straits Times

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

MPs of Penang (yes even the term limitless who should be removed – feedback is important but don’t imagine the Rakyat will tolerate any MP more than 2 terms from hereon – EDUCATION thanks to moi has made the term limitless political junta glaringly obvious for the harm they cause . . . ), how about a ‘shadow vote’ of no confidence on who should be CM from ALL MPs and Assemblymen? For certain Lim Guan Eng won’t even be anywhere on the list of nominees. Vote properly Rakyat! 2 terms only and always remember, democracy is the only thing that will protect your tax funds from ending up in a 750K funeral for beneficiaries of nepotism who think they can stay for more than 2 terms as CM. See what happend to Koh Tsu Koon? Too many terms and any politician becomes a target for racist among racist Muslims and corruptors among GLC false-plutocrats.

Heres another KTK in the form of LGE who will sellout all minorities just to sit on the CM’s seat as long as the quorumless or MP/Assemblyman un-voted creep can. Vote for 3rd Force and only tolerate 2 term CMs and 2 term MPs and 2 term assemblymen. meanwhile lets see if that ‘shadow vote’ of no-confidence (which could become official) can remove that cowardly beneficiary of nepotism who takes away the thunder of NGOs by blabbing about AES. Shameless, point scoring and unjust! Witness the Qlippoth (no not Quidditch, QLIPPOTH) cast off remnant of bad understanding of politics, and denounce this cowardly beneficiary of nepotism for REAL statemen who will address the 3 items above AND GTFO of Dewan after 2 terms!

ARTICLE 15

AES concession holders stand to gain RM700m a year from traffic summons – October 14, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 — A controversial enforcement system introduced last month aimed at cutting down traffic offences has raised eyebrows over the huge profits, an estimated RM700 million a year, the two companies who won the coveted government concession will gain from the pool of settled summons.

ATES Sdn Bhd and Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd, which won recently the contract for the Automated Enforcement System (AES), have also come under fire for claiming between RM600 million and RM800 million as cost to install 831 cameras in traffic hotspots nationwide.

“Does it cost RM600-800 million as claimed by both companies to install the 831 cameras which would cost RM722,000-RM962,000 per camera?” DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng asked in a statement today.

He noted that the project was opposed when it was mooted nearly a decade ago due to the perception of unfair largesse to the concession holders through a three-tiered system paid out from a pool of settled summons.

Lim, a trained accountant who is also Penang chief minister, noted that the companies will gain RM16 for each of the first five million summons paid by traffic offenders in the first tier, resulting in a sum of RM80 million.

The two companies stand to gain up to RM270 million for the second tier, which awards them half of the revenue collected; and 7.5 per cent of the remaining revenue under tier 3, he said.

He had based his calculations on a fine of RM300 imposed on 170 million summons issued in one year, adopting the figures from recent news reports for the first eight days after the AES was launched on September 23.

English daily New Straits Times had reported that 63,558 traffic offences were captured on the AES within those eight days.

The Bagan MP demanded the Transport Ministry fully disclose if the government held an open tender for the concession before handing them out.

“Unless such issues are fully addressed, Malaysian motorists have a right to be angry that cronies of BN have once again benefited fully at the expense of ordinary Malaysians,” he said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This is something for CAP or a transparency watching NGO to handle, not a CM who was not even voted for at 51% quorum among all state MPs that has already used up 1.5 terms. A CM who was voted for however should be addressing Malaysia’s lack of :

;point scoring is the most un-statesmanlike and detestable type of politician, especially when a CM takes the role of a mere NGO but dares not challenge apartheid. This challenge of the AES by this beneficiary of nepotism is not a display of courage or consideration for the Rakyat, this is cowardice and point scoring to pretend to be active while too afrraid to challenge apartheid. A CM who was placed by their own father and through the ignorance of the local state MPs and Assemblymen of DEMOCRACY (1 man 1 vote style at 13 MPs + 40 assemblymen means 53 votes . . . THIS IS NOT true democracy though, but at 1.5 million Penang voters would be, this 53 vote thing is ONLY Representative Democracy) and 51% quorums for a right to be CM is no leader at all. Little wonder the cowardice, from having no moral or ethical much less popular right to be CM. Christians and their papacy minded, cult of personality oriented politics make the worst MPs.

ARTICLE 16

Penang to crack down on smoking next year – by Oppailyn Mok – October 19, 2012

Lighting up in the wrong area of Penang next year could set you back by up to RM10,000. — Reuters pic
GEORGE TOWN, Oct 19 ? Six zones in Penang have been gazetted as non-smoking areas and those who flout the regulation will be slapped with a fine or jail time starting next year.

State executive councillor for health, welfare, caring society and environment Phee Boon Poh said the city council together with the Health Department will adopt a soft enforcement approach this year.

“We will start by educating the public that these zones are now non-smoking zones by putting up banners and giving smokers warning if caught smoking in these places,” he said.

By next year, smokers caught lighting up in any of the designated zones will face a fine of up to RM10,000 or two years’ jail.

He also said ferries will also be made non-smoking areas due to safety concerns.

“In some ferries, passengers are given a smoking corner on the upper deck but there must be absolutely no smoking on the lower deck due to safety concerns,” he said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

More DAP rubbish much like the Gambier Threat.

The fine of 10,000 is excessive and hence unconstitutional. People! Let us kick out the DAP and vote in 3rd force. I propose that 3rd force will only fine 1% of the salary or 1% of National Average monthly wage. That should be RM10.00 for a RM1000.00 earner. Very much more fair than profiteering off the Rakyat via fines. Lets prevent Phee Boon Poh and the DAP crony intalled (rather than via Local Council Election voted for) city council’s greed by fining them all the way out from Penang!

Lets kick out DAP! BN what say you to this format for fining? Want to implement ahead of Pakatan? Otherwise 3rd Force will do the same! Same thing with traffic offences too! 1% for minor offences, 3% for more serious stuff, ALL BASED ON SALARY. The bank only gives 2% in interest for deposits so why the hell should the Rakyat pay RM10,000 for such a minor issue as smoking, for by-laws they did not even approve or take part in writing? Stop voting for DAP! Lets vote 3rd Force instead! SMOKING citizens will crack down on DAP next year!

Smoking lightly in the open is a luxury that too many are missing. take up the hobby and understand that smoking does not mean obsessive waste or choking the air ALL THE TIME, but relaxing with the element of Fire during suitable times, much like a mini-firework even as fireworks already are banned as well by oppressive governments. Democracy is in the spirit of fining methods as proposed here, NOT DAP’s RM10,000 for a cigarette b.s.. If this is LKS being psychotic about Robocop II‘s (Irvin Kershner 1990) anti-smoking scene, just imagine the Hudud minded Christian fundamentalism the nepotistic and term limitless creep has in store for Malaysians . . . Vote for 3rd Force!

ARTICLE 17

A Consideration of Civil Suit Against the Federal Government of Malaysia (Any QC or Legal Eagle want to take up this cause, please contact this site, Legal beagles can go bury their heads in inactive and silent Malaysian Bar Council’s !@#$%^& . . . )

A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a civil wrong.[1] Tort law deals with situations where a person’s behaviour has unfairly caused someone else to suffer loss or harm. A tort is not necessarily an illegal act but causes harm. The law allows anyone who is harmed to recover their loss. Tort law is different from criminal law, which deals with situations where a person’s actions cause harm to society in general. A claim in tort may be brought by anyone who has suffered loss after suing a civil law suit. Criminal cases tend to be brought by the state, although private prosecutions are possible.

Tort law is also differentiated from equity, in which a petitioner complains of a violation of some right. One who commits a tortious act is called a tortfeasor. The equivalent of tort in civil law jurisdictions is delict. Tort may be defined as a personal injury; or as “a civil action other than a breach of contract.”[2]

A person who suffers a tortious injury is entitled to receive compensation for “damages”, usually monetary, from the person or people responsible — or liable — for those injuries. Tort law defines what is a legal injury and, therefore, whether a person may be held liable for an injury they have caused. Legal injuries are not limited to physical injuries. They may also include emotional, economic, or reputational injuries as well as violations of privacy, property, or constitutional rights. Tort cases therefore comprise such varied topics as auto accidents, false imprisonment, defamation, product liability (for defective consumer products), copyright infringement, and environmental pollution (toxic torts), among many others.

In much of the common law world, the most prominent tort liability is negligence. If the injured party can prove that the person believed to have caused the injury acted negligently – that is, without taking reasonable care to avoid injuring others – tort law will allow compensation.

However, tort law also recognizes intentional torts, where a person has intentionally acted in a way that harms another, and “strict liability” or quasi-tort, which allows recovery under certain circumstances without the need to demonstrate negligence.

ii) Tort law is also differentiated from equity, in which a petitioner complains of a violation of some right.

Bumiputra Apartheid violates UN Article 1 Rights.

iii) A person who suffers a tortious injury is entitled to receive compensation for “damages”, usually monetary, from the person or people responsible — or liable — for those injuries. Tort law defines what is a legal injury and, therefore, whether a person may be held liable for an injury they have caused.

The entire non-Muslim, and non-Malay community including Orang Asli is entitled to receive compensation for damages, preferably out of the pockets of the plutocrat billionaires who are racists or who have benefited from racism.

All of the above have been inflicted various government agencies under BN oversight.

v) In much of the common law world, the most prominent tort liability is negligence. If the injured party can prove that the person believed to have caused the injury acted negligently – that is, without taking reasonable care to avoid injuring others – tort law will allow compensation.

;have caused the non-Muslim and non-Malay minorities injuries from negligence to ensure the 3 above items were granted as per the Reid Commission after the 15th year of Malay Special Privileges ending in the 1970s.

vi) If the injured party can prove that the person believed to have caused the injury acted negligently – that is, without taking reasonable care to avoid injuring others – tort law will allow compensation.

All complicit political parties and NGOs even the Bar Council have caused the injury of APARTHEID and acted negligently by inaction or tacit approval via silence and refusal to help citizens in need of equality.

vii) . . . tort law also recognizes intentional torts, where a person has intentionally acted in a way that harms another, and “strict liability” or quasi-tort, which allows recovery under certain circumstances without the need to demonstrate negligence.

All complicit ‘silent’ (Capitol Hill? Silent Hill?) political parties and NGOs even the Bar Council have caused by inaction or tacit approval via silence and refusal to help citizens in need of equality, caused the injury of APARTHEID and acted negligently and deserve to be among the defendents.

Well citizens and legal eagles (no legal beagles please, ‘Legal Junta Toad‘ has been holed up so quietly in that Bar Council Office there might as well be no Bar Council at all, Snoopy (also the weed policy promotionary cautious one) is useless here, we need lions and not the false ones from Jelutong that cannot say the word ‘Apartheid’ and ‘Bumiputra’ in the same sentence despite Parliamentary immunity . . . ) want to put together a UN level lawsuit based on the material posted here on this blog?

Otherwise an unknown blogger will feel inclined to steal the thunder from NGOs and political parties who preferred to parasite off fellow citizens for dirty wealth and childishly meaningless media spotlight than End the Apartheid of Bumiputra.

Astro’s monopoly and recent seizure of parabolic satellite dishes has come under attack in Sabah.

TAWAU: The seizure of 193 satellite dishes around Sabah by the Customs Department has drawn into the spotlight the federal government’s continued bias towards KL-based satellite service provider Astro and its victimizing of Sabahans.

Deputy Chief Minister Dr Yee Moh Chai as well as several senior opposition leaders, in voicing their shock, have also branded the seizures as “ridiculous”.

“After all we are subscribing to the Prime Minister’s ‘People First Performance Now’ dictum,” he said after making known his unhappiness with federal government’s continued policy of not allowing people to use parabolic satellite dishes.

The state Customs Department announced over the weekend it had launched crackdown on the use of unapproved satellite dishes last month under Customs Act 1967.

Those caught in possession are liable to a fine of not less than 10 times the value of the seized items or imprisonment of up to three years or both.

A total of 64 dishes were confiscated from residences in the districts of Beaufort, Papar, Kota Kinabalu, 76 in Keningau and Tambunan and 48 in Tawau, department deputy director Hamzah Sundang said on Saturday.

Each dish costs between RM300 to RM500 making the total seizures worth about RM200,000.

Yee, who is also Sabah Resource Development and Information Technology Minister, said it was absurd that the use of such dishes was still banned in a borderless world.

“We should accept the fact that the world is getting smaller. For a runner, for example, they cannot be asked to use only one type of shoes. We cannot allow a monopoly,” he told the reporters here.

Astro monopoly criticized

He said preventing people from using any satellite dishes apart from those supplied by Astro did not make sense and was also a monopolistic exercise condoned by the government.

Yee said that the rational for not allowing the public to use such dishes in the past was because the federal government wanted to control information.

“But now people can access information from anywhere,” he said, adding that disallowing the use of satellite dishes “is like the ostrich burying its head in the sand … it is not tenable and against the interests of the nation.”

Sabah DAP leader Jimmy Wong also slammed the seizures as an affront to freedom of information.

He said there was nothing wrong in people buying parabolic dishes as they are doing what the government wants them to tap on more information to gain more knowledge and achieve the government’s vision of becoming a fully developed nation by 2020.

“Parabolic dishes are cheap and can help people gather three to four times more information than is available. In China there are more than 100 stations.

“The government should get rid of the policy prohibiting the people from using these dishes,” he said.

He also criticized the monopoly held by Astro.

“At the moment we are only limited to Astro … there is no competition, a total monopoly.

“If the government really means the words – ‘People First’ – the government should be open to other satellite channel providers, just like the many cellular phone companies.

“In Sabah, we have used parabolic dishes for the past 20 to 30 years without problems,” he said reminding the authorities that the devices were initially allowed in areas in Sabah and Sarawak where telecommunication services are spotty at best due to the terrain.

‘Yee sleeping on the job’

Earlier, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) took Yee to task for the brouhaha over the seizures, saying he had failed to improve Sabah’s information technology development despite being in charge for eight years.

SAPP information chief Chong Pit Fah said Yee was constantly blaming others for the poor broadband services in the state and now was finding fault with others for the seizures.

“He just woke up on the parabolic satellite disc issue. He is sleeping on the job. He should apologise to all the parabolic satellite disc owners,” Chong said in a statement this week.

“It is Yee who is ridiculous. He has been the minister in charge of the ICT in Sabah and only now he is seeing all this?”

Telecommunication services in both Sabah and Sarawak lag behind what is available in Peninsular Malaysia.

Most consumers in the two states look on in envy at high-tech services that are available in the peninsula first and only reach them months and even years later. (Continue with below related article, response follows.)

ARTICLE 2

RM265,000 worth of banned Parabolic Dishes seized

Other than those of ASTRO’s, satellite dishes are prohibited by law in Malaysia. Many quarters have tried in the past, to get the government – including those that were initiated by NGOs and some leaders from ruling government – to lift the ban on the use of such dishes in order to receive transmissions of information from foreign countries.

Daily Express – 16.6.2012

Latest on the Customs Department’s crackdown on banned goods saw its officers confiscating 106 sets of parabolic satellite dishes worth RM180,000 and is the biggest such seizures in Sabah so far. According to current market price, the seized sets of dishes could worth RM265,000.
Media report

State Customs Deputy Director (Enforcement and Compliance), Hamzah Sundang told a media conference in Keningau Friday that the 2.20pm raid at a house in Jalan Masak here was made by a team lead by the District Customs Enforcement Officer, Michael Asik. He said the parabolic dish is a prohibited item listed under Schedule II of Custom Rule (Prohibition on Import) 2008 and would require an import permit from Sirim Berhad.

Those found in possession of a parabolic dish without valid permit could be charged under Section 135 (1)(d) of the Custom Act 1967, which provides a fine of not less than 10 times the value of the seized goods for the first offence and not more than 20 times the value of the goods or a jail term of not more than 3 years or both, if convicted.

Oppressed by Malaysian law :

Schedule II (Prohibition on Import) 2008 : Goods can be imported only with an Import License.

Item 10
Apparatus or equipment to be attached to or connected to a Public Telecommunication network or system. Affected parties – all countries, SIRIM Berhad

Item 11
All radio communication apparatus capable of being used for telecommunication in the frequency band lower than 3000 GHz or their motherboards except for:

receiver that is designed for use in the broadcasting services; and
radio communication apparatus having a valid licence issued by the 26 Telecommunication Authority of any country or an International Automatic Roaming (IAR) card issued by a licensed operator

Looking at the Schedule II of the (Prohibition of Imports) Order 2008, the reason for the prohibition can be speculated as not having the import permit necessary to bring in the apparatus, and possible quality control issues. Nothing else.

I read the short presentation on THE CUSTOMS IMPORT PROHIBITION ORDER 2008:- THE ROLE & FUNCTION OF CUSTOMS by Sirim-QAS and found no specific reason for the prohibition other than possible interference in the local communication system by such telecommunication apparatus. If you can get SIRIM to check on the quality of these dishes, you should be permitted to get them imported.

TheGreenMechanics’ two cents:

The number of dishes and money involved in the latest crackdown gives us an impression that there could be more shipments of this popular household item that went undetected.

The monopolistic nature of ASTRO business model, coupled with the recent revision of fees/charges and the implementation of the 6% government service tax put ASTRO out of many people’s reach and hence, the difficulty in accessing information, especially to the rural folks. If people are hindered from their right to information, due to financial or legal reasons, they will find ways through the back door, as demonstrated by what is currently happening.

The key is ‘Import Permit’. Under certain conditions, the law permits you and me to bring in such dishes. So, why don’t we relax the conditions a little bit and allow the people access to information. After all, the Malaysian government has never put any restriction to internet access in the country.

**UPDATE** – Another 90 satellite dishes worth RM225,000 were seized by Sabah Customs in Keningau on Monday. This makes a total of 196 confiscated parabola set. Total market worth is now RM490,000. (Source: Daily Express, 19-06-2012, page 4).

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Vote properly citizens, against MONOPOLY and oppression of communications. Ask your MP if they will remove the ban and make satellite dishes legal. If your MP does not want to, then do not vote for that MP because they are colluding with Astro for monopoly over YOUR CASH. If there is no MP that is running as candidate that will, run for election yourself with the intention of ratifying legalisation. There are more people being extorted via monopoly than those on the take, THAT is the power of democracy as much as the right for th electrosensitive to demand White Zones or even compensation for being affected as per the rights of a minority group – Malaysia unfortunately does not protect or even give equality to the minorities of non-Malays and non-Muslims who seem to somehow think that EQUALITY is unfair to them. A skewed sense of entitlement inculpated by racists and apartheid accepting lapdogs for decades by BN!

If 222 MPs or actually 130 MPs run for election the Satellite dishes will become legal and Astro’s monopoly will end. No need to fight with the police or do illegal stuff! The police will then also be happier because they too will not have to pay Astro, which is incidentally owned by a non-Malay.

Then consider solar panels to end electricity monopoly as well. Local solar panel producers will be happy instead! And with enough independent persons, satellite phones as well which can be trasnparent to ensure no neurotech infiltrations which I strongly believe Astro has been applying against the citizens of Malaysia with. Most police and army are Joe Public level wealth types, for certain they should see the value in such actions. The 1% type ‘Putras’ or term limitless Oligarchs colluding should be taken out of the system as quicly as possible. Will the voters wake up? 1% of people will be unhappy that they cannot get EVEN MORE millions, but 99% of the people will see all of the above bills drop to ZERO. Vote properly or offer yourself as candidates! Make C-band Satellite dishes and decoders legal by becoming MPs! Also any right minded Malays could climb over Pakatan AND BN by securing for themselves as a 3rd Force by running as independent candidates by endorsing with intention to grant via statuary declaration :

Pakatan Rakyat is an alliance of profoundly different backgrounds, with secularists, theocrats, conservatives and progressives working together.

What keeps the Malaysian opposition Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance) together? The quick answer often given is the common search of political power.

While power frames the relationships between three disparate political parties – Islamist PAS, secular-committed Democratic Action Party and the umbrella reform-oriented PKR of Mr Anwar Ibrahim – it is not the glue of the opposition alliance. Were this the case, PAS would have left the coalition when UMNO floated the offer of joining the government in 2008 and intense jockeying took place within PAS.

The answer lies in the three parties’ shared moral compact. Pakatan Rakyat is an alliance of profoundly different backgrounds, with secularists, theocrats, conservatives and progressives working together. In a world wracked with tensions over religion and misunderstandings, Malaysia’s opposition stands out in bucking international trends of difference.

CORRUPTION IN EVERYDAY LFE

Three common principles bind the Opposition together. The first is deep concern with endemic corruption.

The problem of corruption is not new, and while Malaysia’s practices are assessed above many in Asia, including Indonesia, what has become increasingly apparent is that it has crossed the line of acceptability for many Malaysians. Survey results show that an overwhelming majority view their officials as corrupt and believe that their officials do not abide by the law.

Scandal after scandal, from the National Feedlot Corporation and Scorpene, to the recent revelations about the extension of the Ampang LRT, has inundated citizens. While there are many civil servants who work hard to deliver services, there are pressures within the system to conform to predatory practices.

Malaysian corruption was initially concentrated among the elite through the practice of “money politics”. But more and more, it is extending into everyday issues such as school fees, crime prevention and service provision.

Most basic food items, such as sugar and rice, are tied to non-transparent deals of politically-aligned businessmen, as are bigger items such as cars through Approved Permit licence allocations.

These weaknesses in governance share a common moral thread – a privileged minority using the system to their advantage, and this is hurting the majority and widening inequality.

FAIRNESS AND THE PLAYING FIELD

This leads to the second shared principle – fairness. The three political parties each have a different take on what is fair, but there are areas of similarity: Namely, everyone should have a seat at the table; everyone should be treated fairly in a court of law; and social and economic inequalities should be minimised.

This shared view of fairness extends into the outrage over unfair legal decisions and deep-seated concerns about poverty and displacement of many Malaysians. Pakatan’s conception of citizenship has evolved into one in which all Malaysians are exactly that — Malaysians. It is a modern view of citizenship, in which everyone has rights and the government is to respond to the people, not the other way round.

The Opposition’s moral compact is also driven by a mutual interest in expanding democratic governance to level the political playing field.

Calls for the removal of the Internal Security Act (which was suspended and replaced by the more benign but less tested Security Offences Act earlier this year), electoral reform, freedoms of assembly, religion and speech, among other things, all fall under the umbrella of expanding political space and rights.

Ever since the reformasi movement of 1999, opposition activists have joined forces in highlighting democratic deficits and showcasing reasons for an expansion of democracy. Each protest and political crisis has brought the opposition together – from Bersih 1.0 in 2007, to the defections and subsequent takeover of the Perak state government in 2009. The bonds forged by protesting together are strong.

Since 2008, there have been significant efforts to rupture the Opposition’s moral compact on multiple fronts. The charges of sodomy and corruption have been tied to attempts to discredit opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and raise doubts about his moral calibre to lead. The introduction of issues such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual (LGBT) rights puts pressure on the relationship between the liberals and others within the Pakatan Rakyat.

The sensitive “Allah” issue that rose to the fore in 2010 tested the Islamists’ position. The push for Malay rights under the rubric “Ketuanan Melayu” reflects efforts to reinforce ethnic supremacy over shared humanity and equality, to reimpose the social contract of the past.

Each of these issues has not broken the ties between the opposition actors, and it is in part due to the prominence of the underlying principles that bring them together.

THE PROBLEM OF HUDUD

This is not a moral compact without problems, however. The biggest challenge for the Opposition lies within. It has to do with an issue being negotiated throughout the Muslim world: The place and form of Islamic law, notably hudud.

Globally, Islamist political parties from AKP in Turkey to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt are grappling with how to bring about Islamic governance while maintaining rights. For liberals, the introduction of measures such as hudud violates the shared democratic ideals, as there remains deep mistrust of Islamists in office.

For secularists, hudud violates their view of governance. Doubts persist in some quarters about whether the Islamists will continue to hold to the ideals in office, respect different religious rights and, importantly, tolerate difference within their own community.

Detractors point to Algeria and Iran as testimony to a potential violation of trust. Others more open-minded highlight the negotiated paths of Turkey and Morocco.

For Malaysia, the hudud issue remains on the agenda, unresolved and unlikely to be so before polls. In public remarks, Mr Anwar has stressed the centrality of dialogue and principle of consensus. There appears to be a working agreement to agree to disagree.

Among Islamists there has been a global trend towards greater accommodation of difference and an appreciation of constitutional frameworks for governance. Many in the PAS old guard, nevertheless, are tied to the vision of a religious theocracy that is increasingly becoming outmoded, even in Egypt where the President comes from one of the historically strongest advocates of these measures, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Islamists the world over are having to reprioritise their principles in order to govern societies, and PAS will have to as well. What is important is that it will need to do this on its own terms, rather than respond to ultimatums from allies and opponents alike.

Hudud will remain salient to this campaign, because at its core, it puts pressure on Malaysia’s Opposition to reassess, reaffirm and reinforce their common moral priorities. It is this common ground however, that is Pakatan’s moral compact — and for now it is on firm ground. — Today

Bridget Welsh is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Singapore Management University.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Not a word on apartheid? Oh we forget that Singapore and Malaysia’s term limitless dictators gain so much from apartheid. LKY is a farce for not briniging up Malaysia’s Bumiputra apartheid at the UN despite all those US links. So what does that make Bridget Welsh’s selective comments and place in academia worth? Cynical sellout article from a cynical sellout institution. What’s keeping Malaysia’s Opposition together? Self interest. As in the refusal to legalise Satellite dishes to end Astro type monopolies and support of keeping the Vehicular AP system in place, or even keeping Bumiputra Apartheid in place to PROFIT OFF racial disunity.

The rivalry between Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and Azmin Ali for the Selangor Mentri Besar post has overshadowed the battle for control of the state.

But while Azmin has control over his party, he has problems getting the support of the coalition. DAP’s Karpal Singh reminded him that the MB post is a consensus decision while PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali said he was “too ambitious”.

Joceline Tan, The Star

THE exchange of fire between loyalists of Azmin Ali and Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim last week was not the first but it was the fiercest to date.

The stakes have increased as the general election draws near and there is no denying that the two PKR leaders are doing what it takes to be in the cushy seat of Selangor Mentri Besar (MB). The Azmin-Khalid feud has reached a new level of intensity.

But politicians are such natural actors. When Khalid walked into the House shortly before the Dewan Rakyat session began on Monday, Azmin leapt to his feet with outstretched arms. There was no man-hug that would have been over-acting but they smiled like they were in a toothpaste advertisement as they shook hands, knowing that all eyes were on them.

Anyone looking at the pair last week would have been puzzled, even confused, as to whether they are rivals or buddies. The two adversaries are, quite ironically, seated next to each other Khalid as the Bandar Tun Razak MP and Azmin as Gombak MP.

Azmin immediately launched into an earnest explanation about his interview in a Malay daily that had sparked off the latest rounds of attacks, saying that the reaction generated was not fair to both of them.
Faekah: The petite but fierce political secretary has taken the bullets for Khalid. Faekah: The petite but fierce political secretary has taken the bullets for Khalid.

Khalid was quite blas about it and told him: “No problem, there’s no need to apologise. In fact, I just told reporters outside: Thank you to Azmin for saying that I am federal material.’”

The pair even left the House together a couple of hours later Khalid to attend a meeting and Azmin to visit one of his party workers in hospital. In the afternoon, they were together again, this time at a PKNS meeting in Shah Alam. Again, there were lots of smiles and jovial exchanges, with Azmin praising Khalid’s handling of Selangor’s financial affairs.

It was not exactly Oscar-winning stuff but it was a good show. Beneath the civil smiles and pleasantries lie a simmering rivalry that is centred around the post of Selangor MB. The two men are savvy enough to leave all that I-say-you and the you-say-me attacks to their machais.

They are well-matched to take on each other. Khalid is the MB, but Azmin pulls the strings in PKR as the deputy president, Selangor chief and party election director.

Azmin is not only a political animal but a smooth operator. Khalid, on the other hand, is not as naive as some imagine. Behind that absent-minded professor demeanour is a man determined to hold on to what he has.

Khalid has often been described as an accidental politician. That is not really the case because he has been interested in politics since his days as CEO of Guthrie Bhd. He had even vied for a division post in Umno. The MB’s office is a dream come true for him and he is not going to let go without a fight.

The latest attack began with a front page interview in Sinar Harian where Azmin praised Khalid’s achievements in Selangor and declared that Khalid’s corporate experience would be needed at the federal level if Pakatan takes Putrajaya.

The headline the next day was: MB Baru Selepas PRU13 (new MB after general election). That was when the bullets started flying between supporters of both sides.

In the corporate world, that would be known as being “kicked upstairs” removed without losing too much face.
Zuraidah: She walks and talks like a man but is a fierce defender of Azmin. Zuraidah: She walks and talks like a man but is a fierce defender of Azmin.

Azmin has often told those who claim that he wants to take over from Khalid that, “I am eyeing Putrajaya, not Selangor”. But he is well aware that Pakatan’s hopes of winning the federal government are getting slimmer by the day and the coalition is more likely to hold on to Selangor than arrive in Putrajaya. Hence, his move to close in on the MB post.

Khalid’s chief defender has been his loyal political secretary Faekah Husin. She did not mince her words about Azmin’s interview; as a result she has been severely criticised by Azmin’s camp.

The petite lawyer admitted with a laugh, “there are bullet holes all over my body.”

Azmin’s boys joke that Faekah is the “First Lady of Selangor”. They go for her because she is an easier target to hit than Khalid and there are now renewed calls to sack her for criticising Azmin.

Mundane remarks

But sacked from what and for what? Faekah is only an ordinary party member, she does not have a party post and her remarks about Azmin were rather mundane.

Moreover, the only person who can sack her is Khalid and he trusts her implicitly; that is what makes her so powerful in Selangor.

Faekah is Khalid’s spokeswoman, and during the launch of his book Fearless: From Kampung Boy to CEO, he singled her out for mention. Going by the video that was aired during the launch, it is quite clear that she is central to Khalid’s politics and work.

Her power status goes up another notch if one considers that she was the former political secretary to PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and they are still very close. Azmin’s boys know they will have to take Faekah down before they can get Khalid, hence the periodic calls for her removal.

In June this year, a group using the Twitter handle @PecatFaekah had agitated for Faekah’s resignation. The group has not given up and has since extended their scope to @PecatFaekah/Arfah, the latter being Khalid’s press secretary.

While Khalid relies on Faekah to check Azmin, Azmin uses Ampang MP Zuraidah Kamaruddin to poke at Khalid. They are Alpha females who do not mind taking the heat for their men.

Zuraidah, who is Azmin’s No. 2 in Selangor, ticked off Khalid a few months ago when he declined to defend Azmin over some compromising photographs of a couple in a toilet. More recently, she lectured Faekah for “jumping the gun” and told her to improve her communication skills with party leaders.

Azmin’s supporters maintain that the MB post should have gone to him instead of Khalid. Azmin was in the lead to be the MB when Selangor fell in 2008.

But in the early hours of March 9, Khalid’s name overtook Azmin’s and by the time the sun came up, Khalid was confirmed as the choice of MB. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had opted for Khalid because he was a big corporate name and also because he thought that Khalid would be easier to control than Azmin; he was wrong on the second count.

Azmin was deeply disappointed and one of those at Anwar’s house that morning recalled witnessing how the de facto leader tried to placate Azmin for almost an hour.

“Azmin’s face was white with anger if you had cut it with a knife, there would have been no blood,” said an insider.

Anwar’s pitch at that time was that Putrajaya was within arm’s reach and he needed Azmin to be in charge. The younger man was sucked into the Sept 16 fairy tale along with many other Malaysians. He is older and wiser and going for the realistic option this time around.

In that sense, Azmin’s remarks in Sinar Harian were very much about about staking his territory and preparing everyone for his ascent.

But while Azmin has control over his party, he has problems getting the support of the coalition. DAP’s Karpal Singh reminded him that the MB post is a consensus decision while PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali said he was “too ambitious”.

Khalid’s situation is the reverse he is the preferred choice of Pakatan but he does not seem to have the backing of his party. His other problem is that his state seat in Ijok is said to be quite vulnerable and he will have to work hard to do well there.

Third candidate

There has also been talk about positioning Nurul Izzah as the next MB, and Taman Medan, a state seat in Selangor, has been named as a possible constituency for her. It is not an implausible scenario because Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo was only slightly older than her when he was plucked from obscurity for the post.

The Lembah Pantai MP and party vice-president has popular appeal and there is still that wow-factor surrounding her.

But her problem is that, intellectually, she has not measured up to her generational peers like Rafizi Ramli or Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin. She has not shone in Parliament compared to several other first-time MPs. Without her father’s name, she would be just another pretty and ambitious politician.

Her other problem is that she seems to be modelling herself after the eccentric Batu MP Tian Chua whom not many people take seriously these days. They like to pursue sensational and gimmicky issues without proper research and when proven wrong, they simply move on to a new issue. Over time, such incidents affect one’s credibility.

For instance, Nurul Izzah went to town about the Defence Ministry submarine that could not dive. She got loads of publicity but when the submarine dived in the sea off Sabah with no less than the King on board, she behaved as though she had never talked about it.

Nurul Izzah is a good ceramah speaker but has yet to show that she can think and argue factually in a debate. She has a lot of catching up to do and Azmin will see to it that she stays in Lembah Pantai.

Nurul Izzah and Dr Wan Azizah have made statements to the effect of siding Khalid but Anwar has been silent on the feud but it should not be read as impartiality. The de facto leader holds the veto decision and he will use it when the time comes.

In the meantime, the feud will simmer on. Azmin and Khalid will continue to smile and say lovely things about each other in public while the knives are sharpened behind the scenes.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

…
written by sa.tombs, October 14, 2012 15:33:43
Azmin back off. You come from a a family which is treacherous and senile. They say blood is thicker than water. How do we know what plot you are hatching ?? After al we know that Molayus are never loyal and move on the side of who pays them more. You have been known to be greedy unlike the present MB. So please FCUK Off and take over Melaka or Johor or Trengganu or even Negri 9. Leave our Tan Sri alone.

Ans : Who cares what anyone thinks? Majority vote at 66.6% quorums (of the whole party), then term limits.
…
written by Ling Joo Hien, October 14, 2012 14:47:04
I know what Karpal Singh said and what the Secretary of PAS said. What I want to know is what Anwar Ibrahim says

Ans : Who cares what Anwar says? 2 terms over? GTFO then. The is a democratic political party not a family business. Who cares what the Secretary General of PAS says? If the majority votes at 66.6.% quorums, then Azmin wins. What Anwar or the Secretary General of PAS says should not matter at all.

Here is Karpal exposing his assent of apartheid the ‘politics of consensus’ by using the hated word. Traitor to the Indian community that does not challenge apartheid. Azmin could ask the Selangor PKR to vote at 66.6% quorums for him. If Azmin fails then the better challenger wins. Nothing to do with Karpal or ‘consensus’. THIS IS DEMOCRACY, not bullsh1t consensus. Azmin should give this method a shot. That way Azmin won’t have people from DAP telling them about ‘consensus’. There is no such thing, only quorums and majority choices of ALL party members preferably AND then term limits.

These Supreme Council types are NOT a monarchy and stunt democracy in PKR. PKR should swith to a 1 man 1 vote system, then all the so called personalities can shut up and allow the members to choose – AT 66.6% quorums!

Even if Azmin wins, Azmin only has a right to be President for 2 terms. Right Azmin? Or will we have a second Anwar in the form of Azmin? 2 terms only then GTFO! That goes for all MPs as well!

Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and residents took part in the annual “Marcha de la diversidad” (diversity demonstration) in downtown Montevideo September 28, 2012. A Malaysian High Court ruling against Muslim transexuals has sparked concerns that Islamic law is now supplanting the Federal Constitution, say legal experts. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — A High Court ruling against Muslim transsexuals in Negri Sembilan yesterday is raising concerns that Islamic law is now supplanting the Federal Constitution as the country’s supreme law, legal experts have said.

Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan and law lecturer Azmi Sharom told The Malaysian Insider that there is a worrying trend that the judiciary has been putting Islamic law above all other laws in Malaysia’s dual-track court system – pointing to yesterday’s judgment as an example of an erosion of the Federal Constitution.

“There is a worrying trend in which the judiciary appears to place Islamic enactments on a higher pedestal than the Constitution.

“Islam is the religion of the Federation, but that does not mean that ‘Islam’, or what the authorities deem as ‘Islam’, supersedes other Constitutional provisions,” Syahredzan said.

High Court judge Datuk Siti Mariah Ahmad had dismissed a challenge by a group of Muslim transsexuals to an Islamic legal provision barring men from wearing women’s clothes or dressing up as females, saying Muslims cannot be exempted from Syariah legal provisions.

The judge had also ruled that Part II of the Federal Constitution – which guarantees Malaysians fundamental liberties such as equality before the law, freedom of religion, and which prohibits slavery and enforced labour among others – is exempted by section 66 of the Negri Sembilan Syariah Criminal Enactment 1992, according to lawyer Aston Paiva, who represented the transsexuals.

He said the judge had relied on the religious opinion on the Negri Sembilan mufti to justify section 66 in making her oral ruling. He added that the written judgment of the case was not yet available and the judge had not indicated when it would be released.

Section 66 of the state’s Islamic criminal code states that “any male person who, in any public place wears a woman’s attire or poses as a woman shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding RM1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.”

Syahredzan said the Seremban High Court ruling followed an earlier Federal Court decision in which it was held that Islam must be protected “at all costs”.

“The Supreme Court in the case of Che Omar Che Soh is clear on this; provisions relating to Islam must receive secular fiats to become law,” he said, adding that it meant the proposed laws must be passed by Parliament or the State Legislative Assemblies. “It also means that laws enacted, regardless of whether they are Syariah enactments or Acts of Parliament must be subjected to and consistent with the Constitution,” he said.

Azmi, an associate professor at Universiti Malaya’s (UM) law faculty, went a step further.

“It is going to give a carte blanche to state legislative assemblies, Islamic religious departments and muftis to make any laws that go against the Constitution simply by saying it is Islamic and circumnavigating the Constitution.

“If you do not respect this basic rule, then what safety net do we have as citizens?” he asked.

The four transsexuals identified by their birth names – Muhamad Juzaili Mohd Khamis, Shukor Jani, Wan Farol Wan Ismail and Adam Shazrul Mohd Yusoff – who have all been previously arrested and convicted under Islamic criminal laws had initiated the suit last year against the Negri Sembilan government and the state Islamic affairs department to end the “persecution”, which they claimed to be a violation of their constitutional rights.

Paiva told The Malaysian Insider that his clients, who have been medically diagnosed to have a gender identity disorder, only wanted the court to declare that Section 66 “does not apply to anyone with a gender identity disorder.”

He said they were distraught and were considering appealing the ruling.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

NO. However, going apostate in Malaysia is particularly difficult, effectively illegal, and also non-Muslims even Malays, not to mention all citizens not Malay and not Muslim are severely discriminated and disenfranchised against if they are not Muslims. This ruling by itself is correct (LGBT cannot be Muslim, though apostataes can), but the underlying related rulings are wrong (cannot go apostate in malaysia, when not a Muslim even if Malaysian, are not treated equally as per the constitution).

mini-ARTICLE 5.5

Jangan shiok sendiri – Wednesday, 10 October 2012

And this is what happens when you close your mind and refuse to look at the bigger picture. You are just one person with one vote. You may even be amongst four million like-minded people. But then 10 million people will be coming out to vote in the 13th General Election. And how many of these 10 million are following the TV news every night? And how many of these 10 million have been swayed by what they saw on TV?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Minority of one is a bastion of democratic principles. The articles of UNHCR of which Malaysia is a failed signatory of, is another. Democracy negativist article from a so-called modern Muslim! We all know what this makes RPK . . .

ARTICLE 6

The Rise and Rapid Fall of Suaram’s Cynthia Gabriel – FROM AROUND THE BLOGS – Friday, 12 October 2012 Super Admin

Just days ago Cynthia Gabriel was set to be a key figure in the GE13 election campaign. Suaram, of which she is a board member and key spokesperson, was strutting the Malaysian political stage on the back of the Scorpene submarine issue and they thought they had BN on the run.

After all, at the height of the Scorpene saga it was suggested mysteriously that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was set to be whisked off to France to testify at a trial. If he didn’t go, said Suaram’s media friends, our trade with the European Union would suffer. It was total fiction but for Suaram and Pakatan Rakyat they were happy days as the story dominated the media. They went on with their spin and stories.

Except as we now know, there is not and never has been any trial.

A visiting French lawyer Yves Charpenel, who also happens to be a former French prosecutor, torpedoed that story in a five minute press conference in Kuala Lumpur this week.

This has left Suaram reeling. Far more than the revelations about the web of foreign interests that funds this politicised and Pakatan-backed “human rights” group, the “no trial” revelation harmed Suaram because it struck at the heart of its integrity.

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) had misrepresented itself as a plaintiff to a French inquiry of the multi-billion Scorpene submarine deal, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) alleged today.

“We view the claim that SUARAM has been accepted or recognised as ‘civil party’ (plaintiff) as a biggest lie in the country’s political history…” Dzulkarnain Taib, president of the Young Journalists Club, said at a press conference today.

“This means that the case by Suaram in relation to Scorpene has been thrown out by the French court since March 2012,” he claimed.

Dzulkarnain pointed to a court document dated March 13 this year, signed by the French judiciary, purportedly rejecting SUARAM as plaintiff for the Scorpene inquiry as proof.

He claimed that SUARAM’s lawyers had applied for the human rights watchdog to be made a “joint civil party” (joint plaintiff) together with the International Federation for Human Rights, based on a court document dated March 16 this year.

But Dzulkarnain said the French judiciary have yet to decide on whether to allow SUARAM to be a joint plaintiff over the inquiry into the Scorpene deal.

He declined to show the two court documents to reporters, saying that it will be revealed at an “opportune time”.

He gave the court reference number for the documents instead, with the first being “No du Parquet:1115196025 and No Instruction: 2292/12/4” and the second being “No Parquet: 1115106025 and No Instruction: 20F/11/52”.

Other NGOs present at the press conference include the Muslims Consumers Association of Malaysia, Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia and Malays Consultative Council.

he Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) has resubmitted the investigation paper on a company linked to Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) for misleading accounts to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.

“CCM has submitted completed investigation paper to A-G last week. Now is up to A-G on his further action,” the domestic trade, co-operative and consumerism minister told The Malaysian Insider when contacted.

He confirmed that the investigation paper was still for “misleading accounts” by the human rights watchdog’s company Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd.

He said there was “nothing from A-G yet” when asked if the A-G’s Chambers had decided to bring charges against Suara Inisiatif.

Two weeks ago, Ismail reportedly said CCM was gathering the additional information required before resubmitting the investigation paper on Suara Inisiatif to the A-G’s Chambers.

It was previously reported that the A-G’s Chambers had returned the investigation paper to CCM on September 19 as it could not draft charges based on the incomplete paper.

Suaram has been at the forefront of exposing alleged corruption in the multibillion ringgit Scorpene submarine deal this past year but has in turn been the subject of investigation into its funding, along with several other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and news portal Malaysiakini.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Worse case of point scoring quangocrat in Malaysian history ever. I have contacted Suaram about Bumiputra Apartheid before. Not a word or sound from the supposedly UN ECOSOC compliant NGO.

(The Star) – PAS Youth has joined the fray in denouncing a book launched by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that suggests Islam is not a good basis to set up a nation.

Its chief Nasrudin Hassan said the wing fully supported the statement by the party’s deputy spiritual leader Datuk Dr Haron Din, who criticised the book and the Opposition leader for associating himself with the book’s author, former Indian MP Mubasyar Jawid Akbar.

Mubasyar in the book Tinder Box: The Past and The Future of Pakistan suggests that Islam is only a basis to form a brotherhood and not a basis to form a country.

Nasrudin said the wing supported Haron’s statement that the development of an Islamic nation should centre around Islamic principles and teachings.

He was responding to Haron’s recent criticism against Anwar for launching Mubasyar’s book at the Royal Lake Club in Kuala Lumpur.

The book launch was also attended by Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

Haron expressed regret that PKR had given Mubasyar the opportunity to present his liberal views in Malaysia.

Denouncing Mubasyar’s book, Nasrudin said Islam should not be limited as a basis to forge ties between the ummah.

PAS rejected such liberal Islamic doctrines, said Nasrudin, stressing that Islam could even be used as a guide to resolve national woes.

“Islam complements all aspects of life including the establishment and administration of a nation.”

Islam emphasised a trustworthy administration that was free from graft and leakage, and on the welfare of the rakyat, he said.
Wednesday. Asked why her organisation let everyone believe that the Scorpene submarine deal was the subject of a trial in France she answered weakly: “Suaram has no control on how (the) media are reporting this matter.”

But as The Choice has reminded her, this isn’t actually true. At any time Suaram could have corrected the false story doing the rounds but chose not to do so. Nor did it suit its friends in Pakatan Rakyat and the phalanx of foreign interests happy to see cleverly crafted untruths undermine our political independence.

Now that Gabriel has suffered such a painful come down her opponents are on the attack.

Without naming Suaram, Independent MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim told the Dewan Rakyat: “The people were hoodwinked by these group of people who collected donations from the public for the so-called trial.”

“I believe the government has a solid ground take up a defamation suit against the perpetrators.”

He also proposed a law to “monitor the activities of suspected foreign agents who interfere in the internal affairs of the country”. Again, he didn’t name anyone but he might as well have been carrying a photo of Suaram donor George Soros.

But another press briefing in KL definitely did name Suaram accusing it of the “biggest lie in the country’s political history.”

Young Journalists Club President Dzulkarnain Taib produced a court document from France showing that French judges Roger Le Loire and Serge Tournaire rejected Suaram as a plaintiff in the case on March 13 this year.

“This means that the case by Suaram in relation to Scorpene has been thrown out by the French court since March 2012,” he said.

This will further embarrass Gabriel personally because in her defence of Suaram this week she said: “There is no confusion on our part that the case is on the second stage, at the criminal inquiry process when Suaram is accepted as a civil party in March this year.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Anwar means THEOCRACY more than Islam. Who cares about PAS’s 1% of world population Hudud? If PAS wants to be insane, let them convince the whole of Kelantan and Terengganu at 66.6% quorum FIRST. PAS should not even talk about Malaysia at all till then. PAS is getting more and more like Al Shabab and Al Qaeda. Does PAS want to cause USA to bomb Malaysia? Malaysia is no Iraq and not even near SHIITE Iran in power or Saudi Arabia in influence.

ARTICLE 8

Comments About Ommission of Comments – excerpt reposting by @AgreeToDisagree

Anonymous said…

Your experience is interesting/arresting. I used to contribute as a Blogger — I don’t anymore. Like RPK, the MC boss is just a user of people. You are given space WHEN YOU ARE USEFUL TO SERVE HER AGENDA; othervice, sorry 4U lah!:) Hey, come over to my space and I’ll assure I’l offer even tehtari’ on top of free space:) — Newsdog aka Desi

Thanks Desi for your comment. I have no idea about, let alone control over, the verification words set by Blogger.

There are many things which could contribute towards misunderstanding between website administrator and commentator. In the case of MC, my purpose of pointing out probable mistakes wasn’t out of malice but to help them improve. I was hoping it could be an acknowledgement without publishing my comment. At least then I would have known they have got the message. I have had lots of mistakes when posting in my own blog and often some words or spellings bothered me mentally and I had to review and amend them. It is a known fact that we need others to proof-read our own work and vice versa.
7:17 PM

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‘OMG I experienced the same thing. The undemocratic ***** keeps removing comments and preventing discussions!

The Nut Graph is worse. They manipulate or omit portions of your comment to misrepresent the original intent of your comment to mean something else! If you 2 guys are up to it in terms of wealth, how about running for candidacy as the 3rd Force or ‘Fifth Estate’?

That way Choonmei will have a competing platform (which is Pakatan biased to the point of lies) that you 2 will be in the form of MPs.

Frankly I am considering the same as well but have been sabotaged so severely that I might have to rely on proxies instead.

Either of you could also setup a Malaysian Anti-Chronicle online mag same style that does allow comments without ommissions or removals and at least give neutral news to the readers as well. Here’s mine :

Almost decided not to post after seeing but decided to so as not to deny any of a learning curve regardless of age issues (old doesn’t mean we forgo the effort to educate or being younger to neglect the uneducated supposed ‘elder’. . . even if infiltrated and without privacy . . .)

KoSong wrote . . . To put it briefly, I am not against nepotism per se (paragraph 2 or 2nd heading in paragraph 1) . . . this is the same as saying to just rape an unwilling underaged kid ‘a little’.

Nepotism destroys opportunity for people to participate in nation building. When one person sits on a particular panel or post, mch less a law making post which has not been used for decades to change any law but to worsen laws, nepotism is indefensible. Nepotism has already proven harmful to all. The pattern of dictatorship and abuse of power is typical. That is why absolute monarchies fell, that is why nepotism is a sign of unintellectual and undemocratic failures. Old guys, run for election!

KoSong wrote . . . But the most incredible thing happened: after his release from prison, DAP routed Gerakan from Penang in the last General Election, and he became Chief Minister! . . .

That was WITHOUT people’s vote on a 66.6% quorum and no consultation among all MPs in Penang for a 51% majority at least. How could anyone call that ‘incredible’? Became Chief Ministrer? Ridiculous! LGE’s biological father LKS INSTALLED LGE as CM, an action that in fact the Federal Government could even challenge as being undemocratic under laws against nepotism or even UN consideration. One can’t INSTALL one’s own children as CM! Thats whats wrong with nepotism! Being a fan of a political party is one thing, being an unthinking fan is another, and KoSong is being a Kosong when something as terrible and undemocratic as this is called ‘incredible’. Incredulous!

Talk about 3rd world minded, uneducated voters! Democracy is not about family. democracy is about changeing laws and making life liveable. And LGE by not keeping 90% of campaign promises has leve everyone down compounded by the above facts against nepotism. talk about 3rd world mindedness! Tsk tsk tsk . . .

OFFENDING TERM LIMITLESS/NEPOTISM CLIQUES in PAKATAN

Three of the below limitless term MPs must be challenged so that only a single candidate without relatives remains :

Also either Ngeh (Pantai Remis) or Nga (Sitiawan) must go to prevent 2nd degree nepotism and the kind of environment that caused DAP’s Kulasegaran to be kicked out possibly an act of racism but more likely at the order of the Lim family clique and their dogs like Chow Kon Yeow and Ng Wei Aik.

For even stronger consideration, I also list seats that HRP demands from the unethical Pakatan cliques, note that PAS is the least problematic party in Pakatan though more authoritarian and Islamically inclined (Hudud should be applied on a signatory by signatory basis, not summarily imposed, to not drive away Malay voters) :

HRP might very well be aware of some things we are not aware of to list some surprising choices as well, do not discount their reasons.

Voters, BN is apartheid, corrupt and refuses to use that mandate to better Malaysia, PR is self serving non-pro-active, self glorifying, unable to keep their campaign promises, also very nepotistic, so vote instead for 3rd Force Parties such as : KITA, JATI, MCLM (whats left of MCLM), PCM, Borneo Front, MoCS Sarawak, Konsensus Bebas, HRP/Hindraf and PSM, ABU, PRS, STAR etc.. to END APARTHEID.

Do your own thinking KoSong, and heck why not run for MP instead of being a mindless or collusive hero worship kaki or follower, be a leader and an independent!

ARTICLE 10

10 secrets couples will never reveal to each other – Sunday, 14 October 2012 12:14

So, your mother used to tell you that little girls were made of sugar and spice and all things nice; well boys, we’re sorry to say that your mother was wrong.

Even if you think your girlfriend is the purest of women, everyone keeps secrets and your girlfriend isn’t exempt.

Secrets and scandals are a part of everyone’s life and even if you think you and your boyfriend are immune from the scurrilous dramas that affect every other couple, you’d be wrong. Even the most honest men keep secrets.

One study found that 64 per cent of women would still prefer their men to earn more than them. She’ll never tell you that she wants you to be rich because it’s bad taste, so you’ll never know the truth.

And although most chick flicks depict all guys as being hopeless commitment-phobes, in reality it would seem that a lot of men actually announce those three killer words prematurely.

Did your man tell you he loved you too soon? If he did, it may not have been because he instantly fell in love with your pretty smile and sharp wit; he may just have said those three little words to get you in bed.

Heres an interesting piece on gender politics. The original can be read at below link at risk to your love of women. The first 2 sentences is where the embedded NLP is, which normalizes ‘male minded’ callous women and normalizes infidelity. The rest of the article is faultless and acceptable with a second NLP right at the end in closing. Analysis? Potentially indicative of a manipulative and sick minded woman who probably did not have a great time or experience with men. A writer who slips this sort of poison in the article is as much likely to . . . quidditch! Or was that qlippoth! As the Chinese would say – 君子動口不動手 – actually 動口 can be just as harmful but thats because most of us don’t have Legion behind us so feel entitled to ‘cheat’ . . . (see how frightful the above article writer is to inspire this sort of cautionary posting? Shiver . . . ) Rebut or refute don’t get more brittle or viciously plot downfalls to support failed arguments . . .

OCT 12 — What Amy Cheong wrote in her Facebook denigrating my Malay/Muslim friends is wrong. It shows the contempt she has for others.

After her mindless act, PAP ministers and supporters alike went full throttle condemning her for her foolish insensitivity. Straits Times (October 9, 2012) on its front page stated, “NTUC fires exec over online racist remarks” with the following:

• The NTUC takes a serious view on racial harmony in Singapore,” said Lim Swee Say. “We will not accept and have zero tolerance towards any words used or actions taken by our staff that are racially offensive.”

• Law Minister K Shanmugum called Ms Cheong’s remarks shameful and unacceptable, adding that they confirm “deep fault lines in our society based on race and religion.”

• Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that Ms Cheong’s comments were “offensive not only to the Malay-Muslims, but all the rest of us who value Singapore’s multiracial spirit and who want to take it further.”

• Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said, “the reaction of some individuals does not reflect the values that the rest of us hold on to.”

• Writing on Facebook from New Zealand where he is on an official visit, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he was shocked to hear of the incident. “The comments were just wrong and totally unacceptable.”

• Grassroots leader Lionel de Sousa, who is the secretary of the Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle in Hougang, filed a police report yesterday. He said he wanted to send a signal that racist remarks should not be tolerated.

The sense of righteousness of the gentlemen above in condemning Amy Cheong, though timely, appears to be a little hollow to me.

Gentlemen, just where were you when Lee Kuan Yew was onto the following:

• “… to persuade Malay parents to look after their daughters more carefully and not to have teenage pregnancies which leads to failed marriages, subsequent marriages also fail and delinquents…” Why he had to highlight the Malay-Muslim parent instead of Chinese or Indian is beyond me.

• Mr Lee: “Well, we make them say the national pledge and sing the national anthem but suppose we have a famine, will your Malay neighbour give you the last few grains of rice or will she share it with her family or fellow Muslim or vice versa? Why Malay as example again?

• Lee Kuan Yew’s take on Muslim integration in Singapore

• In his interview with Charlie Rose at 31:57, Lee Kuan Yew appeared to stand corrected again even after he stood corrected.

While every mother’s son in PAP is having an orgasm running down Amy Cheong for her “racist” post, I simply wonder where were they when LKY said things that (in my perception) were derogatory to my Malay-Muslim friends? Why were you not doing what you do now to Amy Cheong? Condemning racism!

In every race or community (religious or whatever), there are decent blokes, there are mean bastards and, worst of all, hypocrites! Please be fair — regardless of race, language, religion, gender and, most important of all, political status, position, power and wealth! ?Truth is Amy is not LKY. That is why she is paying and paying (PAP?) for a sin that may not be a sin to another who is powerful.

I guess power corrupts and absolute power corrupts beyond what our minds can comprehend.

Shame on those who practise double standards! — TR Emeritus

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

An article in which the NLP is in the nick of the writer? Lets feed @FeedMeToTheFishes to the fishes . . .

Sure as hell Amy is not LKY. LKY or LSL would have slapped the other party. Remember the polytechnique student with LKY AND the Minister case with LSL? Both LKY and LSL nepotists term limitless would slap if they lost the argument. And nepotism is not a policy

In 1990, an incident occurred in a pre-cabinet meeting which was the beginning of entrenching further among the many in the core executive, resistance to Lee Hsien Loong’s long term ambitions for prime ministership. Prior to this meeting Lee Hsien Loong had gone to the office of Richard Hu, the Minister of Finance, and removed a number of files without Hu’s permission. At that time Lee’s office was on the 48th floor of what is now Temasek Tower and Hu’s was on the 50th floor.

At the pre-cabinet meeting Hu took Lee to task for doing this and was supported by Tony Tan. Lee’s response was aggressive and insulting, he directly insulted Tan and Hu, a man of his father’s age. This was a double insult to Hu, who was Lee’s superior in cabinet and a person of an age who should of itself deserve respect in Chinese society. Suppiah Dhanabalan intervened and chastised Lee for his behaviour, demanding that he apologise to Hu, withdraw his remarks and not interfere in other minister’s portfolios. A heated exchange occurred into which a number of other issues intruded and eventually Lee lost his temper, and reportedly reached across the table and slapped Dhanabalan across the face.

This caused an uproar in the cabinet and Lee was severely chastised by Goh Chok Tong. Dhanabalan stormed out of the room and did not return for some time. Lee, in response to a demand from Goh, subsequently apologised to Dhanabalan, Hu and Tan. Hu, Dhanabalan and Tan all initially stated that they would leave the cabinet as a result of this incident. Goh later took up the matter with Lee Kuan Yew who reportedly verbally thrashed his son over the matter.

This was apparently followed by a more sober, educational but equally critical assessment from Lee Hsien Loong’s mother, a talented though background political adviser. Lee Kuan Yew reportedly met later that day with Hu, Tan and Dhanabalan, apologised for his son’s behaviour and requested that they not resign, supported by a similar request from Goh Chok Tong.

All held out for some time, but eventually Hu agreed to stay, but Dhanabalan and Tan both resolved to leave. This they did the following August 1991 elections, all without a public word against Lee Hsien Loong, continuing to subscribe to the tenet of all secrets staying within the PAP family.

The polytechnique student slapping case (LKY lost a live debate AT A POLYTECHNIC and was so angry that LKY dashed to slap the student on the spot) however has been removed from virtually all reports. Fortunately there are people from my generation who do remember what LKY was up to earlier on. Fisticuff Lees are the redneck tyrants and ‘Junta Family’ of ASEAN. What they do to their perceived opponents is quite inconceivable and cruel, and no gentlemen in civil society or democracy should tolerate the presence or behaviour of such coarse people who do not respect civilisation but do corrupt and bribe as well as sacrifice fellow citizens so they can stay ‘in power’. Anyone who votes PAP are complicit in the damning of Asia. Unforgivable and must be punished at equal measure, all that springs from this particular Lee family of the State of Singapore holding the PMs and MM’s posts is foul and poisonous! A 1000 lifetimes at the dregs of society would not be enough for all the damage the Lees have caused the world, the familes destroyed, the people killed – indirectly of course via direct or spiritual means but certainly by the hand and intent of the Lees. Voters/sentients of the universe, do you know what to do to such people and those who support them? More ‘dirt’ on the Lees below . . .

The one principle factor in Singapore which makes life boring, uninteresting and thoroughly disagreeable in their lack of a free press. The Lee Ruling Family’s subjects are forced to read only what is printed in their state controlled newspapers. The island does not allow independent news media of any sort.

This is the case as far as domestic news is concerned.

Knowing this you can imagine why life there is shunned by many (or at least out of having no choice). Every newspaper has to be licensed by the government, which means you can only publish if willing to tow the government line. They decide what you are allowed to read on a daily basis. News which does not further the government interests is not published. Each day you know that you are being treated like a child who is told what he should read and what he shouldn’t.

And this is the result.

You will never know that Lee Kuan Yew’s son the Prime Minister had raped 2 women in broad daylight along Singapore’s Bugis Street in full view of 4 Bangaldesis last week. This news is not published because it will ruin the Prime Ministers reputation.

You will never know that the Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean had assaulted 2 bouncers at the Flying Pig Bar at No. 3 Boat Quay at 3 am in the morning dead drunk. This too is suppressed because it is once again not in the government’s interest for you to know.

Did you know that only yesterday Lee Kuan Yew had ordered his minions at Temasek Holdings, the state wealth fund to divert $3.5 million dollars into his bank account in Geneva? This is a crime. But once again you will not be told about it because it is not in their interest for this to be made public.

I am not sure if any of the above is true or they are not. Frankly it does not matter because we will never know one way or the other.

A state which censors and suppresses news, tells lies and half truths or even outright lies such as that of Singapore in the end suppresses wisdom and keeps the people ignorant, and makes them fools. It insults the people and makes them dwarfs, not men.

Which is why Singaporeans flee from their island abroad, one of whom is Gopalan Nair, the writer of this article.

Gopalan Nair can be contacted at : Tel 510 657 6107 or 510 491 4375

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

I can’ believe this article’s authenticity, but anyone who has the cash, should call the states should contact this lawyer and make this fact known to the voters if true and not a propaganda article . . . any women (or men? Sex workers?) wearing strap-on-dildos in public over there Gopalan? Just asking to provoke some thoughts/debate on public-nudity/normalising the presence of erect phalluses in public, or the dildo owner’s right to display their toys in public. If 2nd Amendment is respected, then the organic version which has been around since man began walking upright should be no issue though ‘non-districts’ as always need to be designated even as ‘pro-districts’ are the limit – Guns out and cocked! . . . PM Lee a public sex/dogger fan? Well, well, well maybe not such a bad guy . . . though rape is still reprehensible. Is Gopalan sure those weren’t sex workers of the type who didn’t mind being raped in public in a RLD?

SINGAPORE- A 26-year-old man has been charged with extorting money through a sex video recording.

Mohamed Rayzal Shah bin Hood was believed to have a video recording of himself, engaged in sex acts with a woman. He then allegedly approached the woman’s 36-year-old brother with it.

Rayzal allegedly threatened to make public the video unless the man gave him S$4,000.

The alleged extortion took place in Yishun, on October 9 at about 12.45am.

If found guilty, Rayzal faces up to five years’ jail and caning.

-CNA

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

This blackmail attempt is meaningless. Technology can fake anyone’s image this days. Everything is 3D super realistic and CGI based. This blackmail thing is a failure especially when so many porn lookalikes are also everywhere. Add plastic surgery as well and there is no end. I’d say ignore the threat and threaten back to make a similar video based on this sort of tech of the person if the post anything. Frankly too many people are having fun ‘pornising’ themselves and others as well. Blackmail via porn ended in the early 1990s when internet porn and photoshop proliferated . . .

SUNGAI PETANI: The people should not take the country’s racial and religious harmony for granted as it can change overnight.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said Friday that Malaysians of all races enjoyed various types of freedom such as religious and education freedom, apart from the nation’s peace, stability and economic growth.

He, however, cautioned that the harmonious situation should not be regarded as ‘automatic’.

He said that after the March 2008 General Election, it was obvious that racial and religious relationships seemed to be under tremendous stress because of intense politicking.

“This is further aggravated in PAS-led states such as Kelantan and Kedah, where there is no alcohol, no gambling, no cinema, no live concert, and male and female segregation,” he said before opening MCA Sungai Petani’s Merdekaraya dinner gathering at Dewan Beng Siew here Friday night.

Dr Chua said that despite all these, PAS’ ally in Pakatan Rakyat, the DAP, would continue to assure non-Muslims that PAS would not implement hudud and that it would not impose its values on them.

“But, this is happening right before us. Even if DAP objects to hudud, it is only (DAP national chairman) Karpal Singh who opposes hudud. The rest are so quiet about it,” he said.

Dr Chua said it was a big lie by the DAP that it would not allow hudud to be implemented and that hudud would not affect the non-Muslims.

“Hudud will definitely affect the whole nation and everybody,” he said.

Dr Chua noted that hudud would reduce foreign direct investment, affect tourism and the service sector, cause lack of confidence among local investors and affect the economic sector as a whole.

He said if PAS were to amend the Constitution and say it would be according to its religious teachings, then all Muslim Members of Parliament (MP) would have to support it.

He said the situation would be similar to when PAS amended the State Constitution in Trengganu, all Umno state assemblymen there had to support it.

“So, there is no such thing as that hudud cannot be implemented because it can be implemented.

“MCA’s stand on hudud is very clear. This is a multiracial country and religion should not be politicised,” he said.

Dr Chua said hudud would divide Muslims and non-Muslims, adding that it might cause friction and turn racial.

Is that so? This is as much everyone’s country as the government’s. Do not threaten the Rakyat and end apartheid instead. Do not take Rakyat’s silence for harmony or think the people accept apartheid and extreme religion. Overnight on GE13, the Rakyat will change any offending politician instead of being threatened with ‘change’ as MCA dares now. So BN can keep being a lapdog or a racist and be removed by the people instead. People! Lets change ALL the racists and lapdogs or obscenely rich, term limitless or fundo MPs and politicians overnight . . .

ARTICLE 2

‘Better the devil you know’, Dr M tells voters – August 22, 2012

Dr Mahathir said BN needed only to be prodded before it will give the people what they want. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 ? Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today Malaysians were better off with the “devil [they] know” in Barisan Nasional (BN) than a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal government he said was likely to bankrupt the country with its populist promises.

“The BN has listened to the people and has changed many laws and policies. All that the people need to do is to urge the BN to carry out whatever change the people desire.

“Better the devil you know than the angel you don’t,” the former prime minister wrote in a posting on his popular blog today.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is expected to call for a general election soon, but attacks from PR and a number of scandals involving his administration have delayed such plans.

The Najib administration has also introduced a number of new policies as well as reversals in an attempt to blunt PR’s promises for reforms if the latter takes power.

The prime minister was forced to establish a royal commission to probe the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah following a number of minor defections there to PR.

He has also promised to repeal the controversial Sedition Act, after abolishing other security laws earlier this year.

But PR has made dents in the BN armour with recent revelations involving a national cattle farming project scandal and by highlighting possible government interference in a contract for the city’s LRT extension project.

The federal opposition has also promised cheaper cars to Malaysians in return for support.

Writing in his blog today, Dr Mahathir appeared to compare PR with US President Barack Obama, and suggested that the opposition parties’ promises for change were just that — promises.

“In his campaign to become President of the US, Barack Obama promised change. He promised to close down Guantanamo Detention Camp. He promised to stop trials of detainees by Military Courts. He promised to pull out from Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, four years into his first term, he has failed to keep his promises.

“Now the opposition in Malaysia have copied Obama and is promising change.”

While he acknowledged that BN has ruled Malaysia for long, he pointed out that the coalition had a good track record.

“Five years to give (PR) a trial as government is dangerous. Many things can be destroyed in five years. Besides, the opposition as government will ensure there will be no return for the BN. Officers in the government will be used to ‘gempar’ (threaten) whoever tries to change government.

“Already we see this person who claims to fight for free speech suing and resorting to the courts to shut the mouth of his critics. Other powers of the government will be similarly abused.

“Nepotism and cronyism will be employed as indeed they are in the party he now heads,” he said in an apparent reference to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

AUG 23 — A few days ago, a Facebook account profiling itself as “Umno Youth Malaysia”, published a seditious poster “If you agree to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia, carry on supporting Pakatan Rakyat. God bless you”.

Many Internet users were not happy with the poster and left comments condemning Umno Youth. The posting has also angered Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers and they demanded an explanation from Umno Youth. Although the poster was later deleted, the damage has been made to Pakatan Rakyat, as well as Umno Youth.

Some issues, such as racial and religious issues, are very sensitive in our country’s political arena. Those who talk about the issues, as well as those who listen to them, must be very rational. If someone deliberately provokes sentiments, it could lead to a situation not easy to be cleaned up.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin promptly responded and claimed some people had planted “stolen goods” on the party’s wing and that the Facebook account was not the official site of Umno Youth, adding that a police report had been lodged.

If the social networking site that published the dangerous messages and seditious content that could incite emotions was really a fake, the intention of those who made it is indeed very obvious.

A few days ago, there was another similar incident. A rumour claiming that Kedah MCA chairman Datuk Chong Itt Chew had paid RM500 to dismiss an injured woman in a car accident was spread across Facebook.

The woman later stepped forward to refute the rumour. She and Chong had also lodged police reports respectively.

The two incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. Any politician, regardless of which party they are from, might become victims of online framing. It is believed that the number of fake news and messages online would increase because of the approaching general election.

It is not easy to judge whether a scandal is true or false. Even if we are not able to verify, we should at least be suspicious instead of blindly believe them all. Some messages, after all, are deliberately created by some people and some photos have been edited to attack political opponents.

Some people just blindly believe all information online and share them with others. This is also why much information is widely spread before it is confirmed to be authentic.

As the general election is approaching, it is foreseeable that various scandals involving politicians would continue to emerge. Regardless of whether it is on Facebook or other online media, there would be so-called “exposed” news and photos involving politicians.

Faking Facebook accounts to smear political enemies is expected to become one of the dirty tricks in the forthcoming election’s online warfare.

It is a test to the maturity of netizens whether to believe and spread them or not. — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

The dirtiest single event in Malaysian political history apart from Ops Lallang, is DAP promising to declare MP assets THEN refusing to declare assets, and even daring to ask EXCO to declare instead in an insulting bait and switch method. This is compounded by EXCO being INSTALLED not elected via Local Council Elections which DAP promised to implement but did not and now uses the EC to pretend they cannot implement Local Council Elections with. 90% of DAP’s other campaign promises have failed. Not so great PAP mentors DAP has . . .

ARTICLE 4

People now better at judging government, says Husni – August 20, 2012

IPOH, Aug 20 — The people have become more mature in their assessment of the government’s initiative to introduce various facilities for their benefit, noted Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

Describing the opposition’s pledges as merely a populist strategy to gain political mileage, he said: “Inevitably, in the political arena, there is always a segment of society that has a tendency to align itself to the opposition.

“Nevertheless, the people’s support for the Barisan Nasional (BN) is growing and they are now more aware of the government’s earnestness to chart a future for them.”

Speaking to reporters at his Aidilfitri open house here today, Ahmad Husni said the government was constantly seeking ways to assist the people.

He said the newest initiatives in that regard were the 1 Malaysia Privilege Card for policemen and soldiers and the KDS1M discount card for students.

“Our focus is on alleviating the people’s burden in the face of rising global food prices.

“It is during crises such as these that the people will realise who they can trust, and who they can count upon,” he added. — Bernama

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

NO support is NOT increasing, perhaps support for PR is decreasing, but that does not mean that support for BN increases either. Hegelian dialectic AGAIN. BN has the mandate to grant :

;but does not use that mandate, preferring to allow the Rakyat to suffer. Equality is about not being insulted not those crutches offered by government. The government has no earnestness to chart a future for the Rakyat but lots of bribe paradigm methods. This is merely equality and BN refuses to give the Rakyat what they want. Causing social crises such as these, people realise who they can trust, and who they can count upon. BN certainly CANNOT be counted on unless the above 3 items are granted refusing to use that mandate as per the Hadiths or the UN Charter which Malaysia is a signatory of. People now better at judging PROPAGANDA as well Husni. This is shameless spin and pandering to the ego of the Rakyat. The Rakyat need good policy like ending apartheid and ending crony capitalism not false praise of the people’s ability to identify falsehood or bad governance.

Malaysians by and large are hypocrites who only talk but will do the opposite of what they say. They demand that others do what they themselves refuse to do. They are very fast with their mouth and freely swear and curse others while they will not tolerate any disagreement.

What irks me is not criticism. I can take criticism. What irks me is hypocrisy. And there is much hypocrisy behind that veil that hides the face. And that hypocrisy comes in many forms.

How do I despise thee? Let me counts the ways.

One form of hypocrisy is regarding Hudud.

I respect the right of Islamists to advocate the Islamic Sharia law of Hudud, as is the right of anyone in a democracy to advocate whatever they want, including more Chinese schools or more Hindu temples or gay rights or whatever.

It is therefore hypocritical, in a democracy, for anti-Hudud proponents to vilify pro-Hudud proponents by calling them barbarians just as it is hypocritical for pro-Hudud proponents to vilify anti-Hudud proponents by calling them infidels (whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims).

1) Hypocritical to try to justify amputation of people’s limbs PERIOD. If amputation is not villainous for a mere snatch theft for example, RPK needs to get his head checked. What does stealing national funds get? Beheadings? Why does RPK even bother to argue this?OBVIOUSLY amputation is barbaric. Call a spade a spade, call an Islamist apologist an islamist apologist. RPK is a fake among intelligensia for even trying to counter that Hudud is not barbaric or that Hudud does deserve respect. Extreme punishment deserves no respect.

In a democracy everyone has the right to advocate whatever he or she want to advocate without being ridiculed and vilified. And both sides — the pro-Hudud proponents as well as the anti-Hudud proponents — demonstrate a lack of democratic spirit. This is hypocrisy when you shout about democracy but you refuse to allow democracy.

2) This is being the devil’s advocate and argument for argument’s sake. There is NOTHING democratic about amputating people’s limbs.

Whether the Federal Constitution of Malaysia allows the implementation of Hudud is a matter open to debate.

3) NO. The world over, to all non-extremists amputation for any crime is MORALLY WRONG. RPK worries, this myth about blood thirsty Muslims is not being helped by advocating Hudud.

Whether Malaysia is a fully-fledged Secular State considering that Islam is stipulated as the religion of the Federation, whether Malaysia is already an Islamic country (not quite meaning Islamic State) as declared by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and whether the Constitution allows or forbids the implementation of Hudud does not take way the right of anyone who wishes to propagate or oppose Hudud.

You can propose or oppose Hudud. That is your right. You can’t take away that right to propose or oppose it. And in this instance both sides are guilty of not respecting the democratic right to argue Hudud and hence both sides are hypocrites.

…
written by Admiral Tojo, August 19, 2012 20:06:34
There is NO such thing as Hudud laws in Quran. We should use the Quran to argue with these hudud junkies. The Arabs, who invented this hudud laws of the desert themselves as labelled ‘MUNAFEEQUNS – HYPOCRITES” as in 9:97 Quran. So, if you follow them and create institutions to propagate this disbelieve, you yourself become a hypocrite and will practise hypocrisy willfully. For further reference and hopefully the riddance of hypocrisy please visit mentalbondageinthenameofgod.wordpress.com

Malaysians complain that Malaysia does not respect the right of its citizens to criticise the government or the country’s leaders. Doing so would result in you facing charges under the Sedition Act, they lament. However, Malaysians have a very low tolerance level when you criticise the government they love, whether state or federal, and when you criticise the leaders they love, whether from Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. This is not in the spirit of a democracy and is hypocrisy from both sides of the political divide.

4) Then RPK ducks behind the pathos of bad politics in Malaysia. Take a break ‘Princey’ this writing is BAD and getting worse. Thats all. Don’t even write anymore, I can’t believe RPK wrote this . . .

Muslims talk about Islam almost non-stop. And if you say anything negative about Islam they will scream and accuse you of insulting Islam and will demand your blood. These Muslims say we must follow the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the Hadith and if we do not then we are not Muslims but will, in fact, become an infidel or kafir. However, these same Muslims elect their government through a kafir system of Parliamentary general elections modelled after the kafir Westminster system of government. How can Muslims who scream Islam, Qur’an, Sunnah and Hadith adopt a system that does not follow the Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah? Is this not hypocrisy? “But if we do not comply with the kafir system then how would we get into power?” these Muslims will argue. Would cleansing yourself in the toilet bowl purify you?

5) Prophet Muhammad NEVER mentioned amputation or hudud. That was probably a Bedouin punishment, NOT Islam which was derived from Christianity after all. 600 years to reach the Middle East from Aramea seems fair enough. Then, pathos punctuation with the ‘below waist’ reference. Dear me, RPK sure RPK had a Royal upbringing? Maybe still viable for streetfighter politics with the pottier mouthed political animals, but RPK my man, you sure ain’t no leader or statesman . . .

Muslims refuse to accept that they are saying one thing but doing the other. And that is hypocrisy. If Islam is supposed to be supreme, then everything else that is placed above Islam must be rejected, the general elections included. If not then Islam will not be supreme since Islam will come under the system. Are Muslims prepared to place Islam supreme by rejecting everything that is not Islam, the general elections included, even if they can’t get into power? The Muslims believe that the Four Caliphs who came after Prophet Muhammad were the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, meaning God or Allah guided them. Hence what they did is not what they did but what Allah guided them to do. When the First Caliph after Prophet Muhammad, Abu Bakar, was about to be chosen, the citizens of Medina asked him how can they be assured that he would be a fair, honest, just, etc., leader? Abu Bakar took out his sword and placed it on the ground before him and told the crowd that if he deviates and is not true to his word then they are to take his sword and cut off his head. That was the example of Abu Bakar, which Muslims are very proud to tell us.

6) . . . Abu Bakar took out his sword and placed it on the ground before him and told the crowd that if he deviates and is not true to his word then they are to take his sword and cut off his head. . . . Who is RPK chanelling? Auda Ibn Tayi? (pun intended, if offended do warn, that purifying toilet bowl might just work here . . . ) . . . Lawrence of Arabia 1962, David Lean . . . This was before the invention of the UN Human Rights Charter and MODERN LAW. Inapplicable example. In the past there was also ‘Trial By Combat’ in which the victor was right regardless of circumstances. Does this response make how bad your example and premise of that para clear to you RPK?

At the moment we have not even taken a sword to cut off the heads of our leaders yet, which Abu Bakar said we must do and as reported in the Hadith. At the moment we only criticise them in the Blogs and in the Internet and everyone is foaming at the mouth and curse us and call us all sorts of nasty names. This is hypocrisy, especially those Muslims who are so proud of Islam, the Qur’an, the Sunnah, the Hadith, Prophet Muhammad and the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs as well as those non-Muslims who say they want to change the government because they want more democracy and freedom of speech.

…
written by din, August 19, 2012 16:42:56
Hello RPK, chopping off hands is it not barbaric in this modern year, are you trying to tell you agree by chopping off hands, you have forgotten what you (RPK) have gone thru…………

7) . . . after the total ‘pandering to fundos’ nonsense in the earlier half of the article, sympathy and correlation with bloggers, to what ends . . .

Malaysians are so passionate about the political parties that they support, both sides of the political divide. They will vilify and curse those who criticise the party they support and will call you all sorts of nasty names. However, less than one-third of registered voters are card-bearing members of political parties. They are so passionate about ‘their’ political party and will not tolerate an iota of criticism against ‘their’ political party. And they love ‘their’ political party so much that they will not even spend RM1 to become a member of ‘their’ party. This is hypocrisy. And they will demand that others who are neutral and are not members of any political party to show loyalty to ‘their’ party. And if we do not they will condemn us like hell for not showing loyalty to the party that they did not even pay RM1 to become a member of.

8) Who needs a political party? Anyone who amends laws and GTFO of Dewan after 2 terms will do. This sort of scavenging behaviour for the wealthier candidates or term limitless ‘careerists’ that become nepotistic is shameful at best, detestable at worst.

Readers of Malaysia Today call me a coward for refusing to go back to Malaysia to ‘face charges’ when there are no pending charges against me. And they make this allegation using false names and false e-mail addresses while cowardly refusing to register to comment in Malaysia Today because they want to remain anonymous. This is hypocrisy. One million Malaysians live overseas and these people are demanding a change of government because they are fed up with the same government for the last 55 years. They want us to sacrifice for the good of the nation. But they refuse to sacrifice their time and money to go back to Malaysia to register as voters or go back to Malaysia to vote during the by-elections or general elections. Sacrifice is what they want others to do, not what they will do.

9) Hey! We’re not a Raja who could get ‘daddy” (Sultan) to pardon in case things get too hot, or holding degrees and being well fed and rested, well thought of for DECADES instead of the extreme abuse some of us had to endure for lack of patronage or wealth. Most of us do not have Assange-like networks and a high profile to bail ourselves out IF something goes wrong here in the 3rd world. If there are no charges, get back here and make good on all your b.s.. You want to complain because there is no change? Well run for candidacy to put forward bills for change or at least fund a candidate or few. Tengku Razaleigh term limitless to boot as is is 20+ years senior to RPK, this refusal is not about having a thin skin or insufficient finances? One million Malaysians who live overseas that cannot afford to fight here or do not have a strong network are justified, RPK is not, because of all the above advantages . . .

This is hypocrisy. Malaysians by and large are hypocrites who only talk but will do the opposite of what they say. They demand that others do what they themselves refuse to do. They are very fast with their mouth and freely swear and curse others while they will not tolerate any disagreement.

10) . . . and being married to Marina Mahathir living off the BILLIONS stolen why don’t you ask Marina for being a beneficiary of that wealth to offer to start hudud being such a promoter if hudud? NO EXCUSES or comparisons to 1 million Malaysians from where RPK stands. I’m beginning to believe that those who call RPK a vile whatever seem true, with the addition of HYPOCRISY if not extreme cowardice or just being a lapdog counter propaganda man. There is no need for disagreement here as this RPK writer is proving to be most undemocratic and disagreeable in support of obviously undemocratic hudud (ask the 1st world how many think amputating limbs is democratic or worthy of respect, might as well bring back ‘Trial By Combat’ and say that is respectable . . . one to seek justice, the other to dispense justice, BOTH involving maiming or bloody solutions . . . ) and round condemnation of the overseas Rakyat. Well that makes clear what RPK and possibly People’s Parliament part of the problem not the solution. C’mon write better RPK, I’m sure you can, and by not returning to Malaysia, be branded a coward and a flatulent fart of a armchair blogger instead if a real 2 term intent politician . . .

Sarawak police raided a village and detained five people whose names were not even in the report filed by a plantation company for allegedly burning a bridge.

Some 500 angry villagers with their children from Melikin and nearby longhouses in Serian and Simunjan stormed the Serian police station yesterday, demanding the release of five individuals who were detained on Sunday night for allegedly causing a fire.

The villagers learnt that the five – Sanjan Ambol, 58, Musit Ngawing, 52, Tuai Rumah Nyalu Tampa, 55, Samad Junna, 41, and Singa Unsit, 58, – were to be charged at the Serian district court. All five were villagers from Melikin, Danau Melikin and Ensebang Plaie.

The villagers first went to the Serian district office, but on hearing that they were still being detained at the Serian police station, they rushed there and demanded that the detainees be released immediately.

The police had to restrain the angry villagers from entering the police compound and even threatened to arrest them, but they ignored the warning.

The five detainees were released at about 11am without any charge being framed against them despite being remanded for three days.

Freed detainee longhouse chief Nyalu Tampa expressed surprise to see so many people had come to support them.

“Their support gives us strength and makes us more determined to defend our NCR [native customary rights] land,” he said.

The detainees’ lawyer, See Chee How, said that they were arrested on Sunday night after representatives of United Teamtrade Oil Palm Company lodged a report that a bridge to the plantation was burnt.

“My clients should not have been arrested in the middle of the night when the police have not carried out investigation first.

“They simply arrested them based on a report lodged by the company, and without concrete evidence. Moreover, this is not a serious crime.

“Why can’t they wait until the next morning? I can even ask my clients to surrender themselves to any police station,” said See, who is also Sarawak PKR vice-Chairman and the Batu Lintang assemblyman.

See said that he received a call on Sunday night from one of the villagers telling him that the police were at the village to arrest the five persons.

Illegal arrest

He said he spoke to Inspector Azlan Abdul Wahab who led the police party and asked him why they were arresting the villagers for a minor act.

He told Azlan that they could have just asked the individuals to surrender themselves in the morning.

“But he told me that his instruction was for him to arrest them immediately. I asked him who was his superior so that I could talk to him.

“Azlan told me that his instruction was very strict, and could not tell me, ” said See.

He added that he informed Azlan that the police action was malicious and illegal.

“Moreover, no one has been identified in the police report made by the company.

“It is very malicious on the part of Azlan [to arrest the villagers]. I hope that he was not instructed by a senior police officer because it is bad.

“You have not done any investigation and yet you arrest them. That is illegal,” he said.

Besides questioning the legality of the arrest, See also questioned the rationale for bringing the five detainees all the way to Tebedu sub-district for the application of a remand order.

He said when he went to Serian on Monday, the application for the remand order was not done in Serian because the district officer who is also the magistrate was not in Serian.

The police, he said, could have asked the Tebedu Sarawak Administrative Officer come down, but they did not do it.

“Why did the police want to make it so difficult? They could also have taken the five villagers to the Balai Ringin sub-district which is a stone’s throw from Melikin.

“But when you apply for a remand order, you must first carry out an investigation and tell the magistrate why you need it.

“The police should have investigated the detainees during the night, but they did not do it,” said See.

Legal action against cops

See said the five detainees have instructed him to take legal action against the company and the government for taking away their land as well as against the police for arresting them without proof.

The dispute between the company and the native landowners has reached a critical point after the company issued a notice demanding anyone riding a motorcycle using the company’s road will have to pay RM5 per entry.

For cars, the drivers have to pay RM30 and for 4WD vehicles, the drivers will have to pay RM50 per entry.

The toll has angered the people who have lands and farms at the other side of the plantation and in retaliation, the native landowners mounted a blockade to stop the company from using their road to the plantation.

***Commentator Comments :

Sabah & Sarawak are a total tragedy, swindled and sucked dry Taib, PBB, & by Putrajaya. Not even a proper trunk road! The natives lack electricity and drinking water while Criminals bought submarines and built twin towers costing multi-billions for kick-backs. All cronies live in palaces. Outrageous! Just compare: Scotland in Great Britain and Quebec in Canada had an open, honest & fair national referendum on cessation/separation. Any talk of independence and your ex CM Tun Faud Donald Stephen died in a crash. BN’s evil is earth-shaking. Finish them off now!

Comment by alan newman, new zealand — August 17, 2012 @ 9:12 PM

500,000 natives should have already taken to the streets demanding for the thief minister, Taib mahmud, to be investigated and prosecuted for abusing his authority and position in grabbing NCR lands and alienated more than one million hectares of state lands to his own family members and close cronies under the cleverly engineered “payments in kind” policy of the thief minister

Under the payment in kind policy, the Sarawak State Government would approve and award mega projects to his children’s group of companies at a highly inflated cost and then alienated huge tract of state lands with high valued timbers in lieu of payments. The premium calculation for such lands would usually be only RM300.00 per acre.

For every RM10,000,00.00 the Sarawak State Government “owed” Titanium Management Sdn Bhd which is owned by Taib’s son and its subsidiaries, his son’s company would gain 33,333 acres of state owned lands.

All Dayaks must vote out UMNO controlled BN led by the master grand thief in Putrajaya and the grand thief in Sarawak.

Comment by Mata Kuching — August 17, 2012 @ 2:01 PM

We must applaud the police for being very very ” prompt” in their action in arresting innocent villagers. They came in the cover of darkness,ill prepared to do an improper arresting job. That Tuan Azlan fella must be very very nervous by now for being a stooge of the Oil Palm Company and “tricked” to do their dirty job for them. Good for him to simply take orders without determining the legality and ramifications of his ill intended actions. Wonder whats going to happened to him next with such a lousy KPI? I wonder too, what is to happen to the father and son who were battered by land grabbing thugs a few months back? Why the so so very slow police action and no arrests done on that case which have evidents as clear as the blue sky. Perhaps the police only work in dark places where evidents are hidden and fuzzy? To the tuan azlan,if you want to spice up your KPI,go arrest the thugs who beat the father and sons. Thats easier then to simply follow orders form your Towkay Sawit without any inkling of what you are doing! And do not simply barge into the kampongsn at night and arrest inocent villages unless you intend to arrest the whole village population when they come to meet you in your office for an explanation! Now how to hide your bias towards your Oil Palm towkay. Presumably your second pay cheque is from the land grabing towkay?

Last night, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak tweeted that he has asked the Cabinet to review the controversial Section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950. This is another back-flip by Najib and his BN government seeking to reverse what is undoubtedly a grievous error that is unjust and irrational piece of legislation following outrage and popular protest by civil society movements and opposition parties.

Yesterday, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Malaysia successfully organised the Malaysian Internet Blackout Day initiative which received full support from various news portals, activists such as Marina Mahathir, various NGOS such as the Bar Council and also opposition parties including the DAP.

This Internet Blackout Day initiative was organised to oppose Section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950, an ignominious amendment passed by the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara earlier this year, which effectively enables law enforcement officials to hold one accountable for publishing seditious, defamatory, or libelous content online, as long as the allegedly defamatory content is traced back to one’s username, electronic device, and/or WiFi network.

Guilty until proven innocent

One is also presumed to be guilty of publishing illicit content on the Internet unless one can prove otherwise. In other words, Section 114A goes against the basic principle of law by laying the burden of proof on the accused instead of the accuser. Anyone can make an accusation without showing proof, it is the accused that must show proof that he or she is innocent. This is typical BN mentality where they can make simply make wild and even false allegations against opposition PR leaders who then have to show proof that they are innocent

The Prime Minister’s flip-flop also follows statements by BN lawmakers such as Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin and an MCA senator who apparently now oppose a law which they had voted for.

Why is it that Khairy and others are now so keen to show Malaysians that they oppose the law when the could have easily chosen not to vote for it when it was tabled? Is it not merely duplicity for them to speak out now to claim credit for an popular initiative by the rakyat?

This proves that BN leaders are complete frauds, and that the supposed Government Transformation Programme is nothing but a sham. The undeniable fact is that without the protest by civil society and opposition parties, there would not be any talk of a review. For Khairy and others to claim credit now is nothing less than opportunism.

The only way out now for Najib and the Cabinet is to prove their sincerity is by apologising and revoking not reviewing Section 114A of the Evidence Act immediately in the coming session or risk being exposed as duplicitous.

If no apology is forthcoming from the Prime Minister, then the people will see this as nothing more than a political stunt.

All BN MPs Must Prove Their Sincerity By Immediately Apologising For Their Complicity In Passing Section 114A Of The Evidence Act And Revoking not reviewing It At The Coming Parliamentary Meeting Beginning On 24 September 2012 Or Risk Being Exposed As Political Fraudsters To Deceive The Voters During The Coming General Elections.

LIM GUAN ENG IS THE PENANG CHIEF MINISTER & DAP SEC-GEN

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

No locus standi to demand. 90% of campaign promises unkept. Promised Local Council Elections failed with undemocratically installed EXCO instead. BN would not apologize to those who also do the same. Pot calling kettle black. PR and Guan Eng (2 terms as CM nearly up, more than 2 terms as MP, with family members throughout the political party . . . ) should apologize for failing to keep campaign promises instead before even trying to ask BN to apologize for something as inconsequential as internet law when APARTHEID exists, we we do not even have :

‘You walk the talk first’ but shouldn’t Marina tell this to her DAD first & foremost – Written by Marina Mahathir – Thursday, 16 August 2012 21:21

REPRINT The Government wants us to change our lifestyles to cope with inflation.

It is easier said than done since most people were having it difficult even before the hikes. The Government must first set an example by doing things it should have done long ago.

WITH the recent hike in fuel prices and the Government’s exhortations for us to change our lifestyles in order to cope, may I provide here some suggestions for the Government and those who work for it to “share our burden”.

1. Stop having meetings, especially out at resorts, far enough away to be able to claim transport allowances. Have online meetings instead or teleconferences. Use Skype or chat.

2. No need to order special pens, bags, T-shirts, notepads and other goodies for those same meetings.

3. No need to order kuih for mid-morning or teatime meetings in government offices, or nasi briyani lunches for those meetings that happen to end just at lunchtime.

4. Cancel all trips for government servants to conferences overseas unless they return with full reports of what they did there, who they met and what they learnt and how they mean to apply what they learnt at home. Ask them to do presentations to colleagues who did not get to go, on the most interesting and important papers that they read.

5. Scrutinise invoices for contracts to make sure they are truly reflective of what those projects or supplies cost.

6. Stop elaborate launches for government programmes. In particular, stop the buying of souvenirs, special batik shirts, corsages, bouquets and caps.

7. Make all civil servants and politicians travel economy class. That means really travelling at the back of the plane and not buying full fare economy class tickets that allow them to be upgraded to Business Class.

8. Stop having the full complement of police escorts to cut down on petrol costs. If they need to be somewhere by a certain time, start earlier like the rest of us. Wouldn’t be a bad thing for them to also experience a traffic jam.

9. Once a week (or more), have ministers use public transport so they know what everyone else has to suffer. This might provide them with the incentive to improve them.

10. Once a week, let ministers go to a market to buy food for their families with instructions to not spend more than RM100.

11. Get ministers to carpool. They might get more work done just by being able to talk to each other to see what can be coordinated between their ministries. For instance, the Ministers of Health and Women could discuss what to do about women’s health issues in the car on the way to work. Maybe have a secretary to travel in the front seat to take down notes on what was discussed. By the time they get to their offices, things can get implemented.

12. Once a month, get civil servants to work with one disadvantaged group in order to be better able to appreciate their problems. It could be blind people one month, hearing disabled people the next, orang asli the following month andpeople living with HIV/AIDS after that.We could start buddy systems which pair one civil servant with one disadvantaged person and at the end of it, ask each pair to make recommendations on how to make life better for each other. This might get rid of the problem of desk jockeys, people who never stray very far from their desks yet make policies for people they know nothing about.

13. Have PA systems that shout out the name of the officers who have to serve people at government offices so that people get the services they came for and don’t have to keep coming back just because the officer was out having coffee. No counter should be left unmanned for more than five minutes before the officer is paged to go back to their stations. This should cut down waiting time for the public and save them transport costs in having to keep returning just to get one thing done.

14. Government officers who lose people’s files should be fined and have their names publicised for being careless and causing inconvenience to the public. Instead of making the public travel to their offices several times to deal with their problems, they should travel to go see their client and deal with it right there and then. And every officer who goes out of the office should be given a reasonable time to get his work done after which he is expected back in office so he doesn’t waste time doing something else.

15. And newspapers should save paper by reporting real news rather than non-news that they carry, particularly nonsensical utterances by politicians. As they say, we need to do this all together in order to make a difference. So if the Government and politicians make these lifestyle changes, I will do my part and change mine.

Thank You.

Marina Mahathir is the daughter of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad

Mailbag

***Commentator Comments :

Friday, 17 August 2012 08:48 posted by U Trust Her?

Can u trust the offspring of a snake? An evil one too, lying through his teeth?
The greatest looter, deceiver, is still loose and still stir up irritants through the world “Malay” and “Islam” but earning billions out of it! The Kerala outcast becomes the king maker in malaysia through lying cheating and deceiving and evil intents.Even now, prospective MP have to be vetted by him for election!! How powerful – in this ??? country!
No wonder R Tee is salivating and quickly turned himself into Malay hoping to jump on the bandwagon to dirty, illegal riches! Too late R Tee, u will end up in shit. The curtain of this lying art is falling and u just appear on the show. Watch out the s*** is falling down on all the actors including in Marina and his whole family. And u r in it too!

Thursday, 16 August 2012 23:47 posted by dickhead johnnie

I never trusted this lady. I suspect she’s just daddy’s test balloon to see which direction the wind is blowing. She is part of a family which is not unlike Shahrizat’s lembu family. Only problem is the cows in Sharizat’s stay in luxury condos whereas the cows of the Mamajutty resides in offshore bank vaults like airconned Swiss cows. She is Mahathir’s alternate weapon like Rocky Bru and RPK, Be wary of her and her writing,,,,she carries a double edged pen mightier than the parang,

Friday, 17 August 2012 02:10 posted by PR voter

No lah Marina, don’t waste time telling all these nonsense. These are kacang putih. You should tell your father to return to national coffer all the money he had stolen through bailout, 10% contracts he received as commission, Ali baba businesses etc…. Sick of her hypocritical essays. Marina, actually you are in no position to say anything, comment about anything about other people as long as you keep silent on your father’s misdeeds to this nation. Your comments are all bias as long as you don’t mention a word about your father, understand? We don’t buy your message.

ARTICLE 9

Dr M & the Sabah RCI: ‘Mother of all gambles’ that Najib has already LOST – Written by Joe Fernandez, Stan Lee, Malaysia Chronicle – Monday, 13 August 2012 09:53

As the saying goes, you can fool some of the people some of the time but not all the people all the time. And this is evident in the much-panned 8-point Royal Commission of Inquiry into the illegal immigrants issue in Sabah unveiled by Prime Minister Najib Razak on Saturday.

Not only has Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim slammed the RCI as being another political “gimmick”, he has accused Najib of deliberately designing the RCI’s scope so as to protect the culprits behind the citizenship-for-votes scam at the heart of the issue. This scam has been blamed for many of the problems prevalent in Sabah including overcrowding, rising crime, violence, poverty and social tensions between the locals and the illegals.

“These are major criminal acts, particularly when it involves corruption and cheating and falsifying documents. These are serious flaws, but of course, these are not part of the RCI’s terms of reference,” Anwar told reporters after a huge rally in Kota Marudu on Sunday.

Najib had empowered a 5-member panel to probe if foreigners in the state were unlawfully awarded Malaysian ICs or citizenships and included in the electoral roll. But the panel’s terms, as Anwar and other Pakatan leaders including DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang have pointed out, do not include an investigation to identify those involved in handing out citizenships unlawfully.

“Yes, it seems Dr Mahathir is clearly nervous about the RCI,” said Anwar, referring former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

“But they must have given their assurance that they will not pick at who is at fault, who are the people taking money or falsifying documents and why. So that means the entire RCI is just flawed.”

Dissatisfied Sabah leaders continue to leave BN

In a bid to counter the Opposition’s arguments and to defuse Anwar’s growing clout in East Malaysia, the Umno-controlled mainstream media has tried to drag him into the illegals fray, arguing that he was Mahathir’s deputy during the 1980s and the one responsible for establishing Umno in Sabah.

But as Anwar’s aides pointed out, setting up Umno in Sabah and formulating a “treasonous” scheme to grant citizenship to illegals so that they would vote for BN and ensure it stay in power are 2 different issues. Anwar himself has denied any knowledge or involvement in the Project IC or as many call it Project M (for Mahathir), saying that he was “kept out of the loop” in this matter.

Indeed, the counter-propaganda and Najib’s RCI have failed to discourage fed-up Sabah leaders from leaving the Barisan Nasional fold. Sunday’s rally was to announce the crossing over of another senior BN leader Senator Maijol Mahap over to Anwar’s side of the political divide.

Maijol, a former Upko vice president, is the 3rd senior Sabah BN leader to switch allegiance and the exodus is expected to intensify after the Hari Raya celebrations.

While Maijol has not announced joining any particular Pakatan Rakyat party, he joins Tuaran MP Wilfrid Bumburing and Beaufort MP Lajim Ukin as members of a newly set-up movement to fight for change in their impoverished state. This movement is aligned to the Pakatan, which is the federal opposition and is tipped to have a better than even chance of wresting the federal government from Najib’s BN at the next election.

“On whether we expect more crossovers, my answer, of course, is yes,” said Anwar.

Sabahans know Project M was Mahathir’s baby, not Anwar’s

Even Maijol said as much during the rally, that Sabahans can forgive Anwar for bringing Umno into Sabah but not Mahathir and other henchmen for allowing the illegals to trample over the rights of the locals.

Reflecting the view of many Sabahaans, Maijol credited Anwar for bringing political change to Malaysia. He said that while during the 2008 general election, the wind of change had bypassed Sabah, it would not do so in the next general election widely expected to be held within the next few months.

“To me, all this happened and has continued to occur because of one factor and that factor is Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He has created a new spirit for change in Malaysia and these changes will lead to a new political system for the country – a two-party system and I support this,” Maijol told the rally.

Courting disaster

Najib courts disaster if he doesn’t mean what he says and is not saying what he means as far as the RCI goes because the Sabahans are dead serious over this issue. He will be dismissed for what he has so far turned out to be i.e. a fulltime professional bullshitter, for want of a better term. The state will turn in frustration to the Opposition and the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

Sabahans will suspect the worst if the RCI goes through the sham of a Public Inquiry.

There’s no need for over-emphasis on a Public Inquiry since nothing can come out of it except piecemeal solutions which will simply increase the political frustration level in Sabah.

Instead, what’s needed is for the Home Minister to take the cue from the Prime Minister and direct the Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) and Election Commission (EC) in Sabah and Putrajaya to allow the RCI to access their respective data banks.

Too many things can go wrong in ‘blood-thirsty’ Sabah

Too many things can go wrong in Sabah especially when the people in the state are baying for blood.

For example, it will come as “the mother of all shocks” if the Federal Government claims via the RCI that most of the foreigners given out “citizenships” in Sabah are in fact stateless people and therefore “there’s no problem” This would be politically unacceptable. No foreigner in Sabah can be given citizenship without the prior recommendation of the state government as the initiating party on a case-by-case basis. If the federal Government by-passes the state government, the people affected would not be considered Sabahans but Peninsular Malaysians subject to the Immigration Act unless they acquire permanent residence which would be politically impossible to grant. The lack of permanent residence status however would not prevent such people from voting in the state.

Forensic ICT experts will be needed to help the RCI to determine and weed out all JPN MyKads which are a nullity in law from the very beginning. The RCI’s 8-Point Terms of Reference may be vague on such help.

The 1st Generation of the MyKads held by those ineligible to hold them is those which don’t carry any details on the parents of the holders but yet have been issued the document under the category of operation of law which doesn’t require the actual physical possession of a citizenship certificate. The application for such MyKads would have been facilitated by a false Statutory Declaration (SD) giving Sabah as the place of birth. The SD would have been followed by a late registration of birth certificate to be used to apply for the MyKad.

One problem is that many holders of such documents may have moved to Peninsular Malaysia, even back to their home countries or passed away.

In that case, the passage of time would have worked in favour of the JPN to cover its tracks. However, the infamous cases of Salman Majid and Majid Kani in Court – Google it – are something that the JPN cannot explain to the RCI. Salman’s lawyer, Karpal Singh, and Majid’s lawyer, P. J. Perira, can be subpoened by the RCI.

The constant change of ICs in Malaysia from Blue to Bunga Raya to MyKad and the latest smart MyKad has played further havoc with the date base and has reportedly allowed the JPN to conceal its tracks from yesteryears.

Still, the information on the 1st Generation of illegal MyKad holders should be available on the JPN database unless it had deleted such information citing the passing on of the holders or their return to their home countries or leaving the state.

The children and grandchildren of the 1st Generation of MyKad holders cannot be exposed as ineligible and weeded out unless the information on the latter (1st Generation) is available. The data base on the 2nd Generation of ineligible MyKad holders is likely to show that everything was above board, indicating parents’ details.

From then on, the cause is lost for the people of Sabah especially the Orang Asal.

In the absence of the required data at JPN, the Immigration Department may be able to provide the back-up date to piece together the picture on the 1st Generation of ineligible MyKad holders.

Much of the problem, according to the grapevine, is in Putrajaya where a secret unit under the direction of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stepped up the issuance of Malaysian personal documents to illegal immigrants in Sabah in contravention of the Federal Constitution. The suspicion is that the secret unit was initiated during the administrations of Mahathir’s predecessors but it’s known whether the problem goes back as far as 1963.

Widespread suspicion that electoral rolls have been tainted

Equally worrying for Sabahans is the suspicion that details from such documentation entered the electoral rolls in the state to tip the odds against the Orang Asal in particular and keep Chinese seats at a bare minimum.

Further compounding the problem of MyKads which are a nullity in law from the very beginning is that its holders apparently, as stated, had the tendency to keep moving to Peninsular Malaysia or return home. The result, according to the grapevine, was that the secret unit was forced to continue its operations and even step it up from time to time – operating even from jungle hideouts — to ensure that replacement voters entered the electoral rolls.

It was the JPN which, among others, refused to co-operate with the Federal Cabinet Committee on MyKads headed by Bernard Giluk Dompok during Mahathir’s premiership. It was rumoured then that the JPN and other departments were acting on Mahathir’s directive. Dompok promptly resigned his chairmanship when he discovered Mahathir’s double game.

Najib’s RCI, which Mahathir has delayed for so long while he fought a rearguard action tooth-and-nail to kill the idea, has brought the MyKad problem in Sabah full circle to where Dompok left off with very little accomplishment. If Najib has ignored Mahathir’s objections, it’s because he’s fighting for his political life in Sabah, an electoral Fixed Deposit state for him along with Sarawak. If Sabahans unite, they can beat the illegal immigrants allegedly on the electoral rolls.

Mahathir’s statement a red herring designed to mislead RCI

Mahathir’s recent statement that illegal immigrants in Sabah who have stayed a very long time in the state and can speak Bahasa Malaysia are entitled to citizenship may be a red herring.

It’s not possible to issue citizenship certificates – naturalization for example – to illegal immigrants. If the illegals re-entered the state legally, it would be a different matter.

Again, they would not be able to qualify for citizenship by naturalization as a matter of right.

They would need to hold an Entry Permit from the Immigration Department, work permits, and run the gauntlet of clearance by the Special Branch, police clearance by their home countries, temporary residence MyKads, permanent resident MyKads, apply for naturalization, pass the Bahasa Malaysia test, collect their citizenship by naturalization certificate and produce this to obtain a MyKad issued to citizens.

Citizens by registration are the children of naturalized citizens born in Malaysia but they too, like their parents, would have to apply for a citizenship certificate, failing which they would considered citizens of the home countries of their parents and issued a permanent resident MyKad.

The EC, it’s said, has two kinds of voters on its electoral rolls i.e. the first whose MyKads, whether the holder is eligible to hold or ineligible, are listed in the JPN databank; and the second with MyKads which don’t exist in the JPN databank. The EC, the last time that it issued a statement on MyKads, admitted that it was not online with the JPN and was not in a position to check whether the MyKads of those on its electoral rolls are in the JPN databank.

Sabahans will bay for blood if the RCI turns out to be another dud

The EC doesn’t even remove the deceased on its electoral rolls unless a death certificate is presented to it. In the past, it had been alleged that the MyKads of the dead were being used to vote by phantom voters hired for the job from among illegal immigrants.

Uncollected MyKads, if not destroyed, can similarly be used by phantoms to vote.

The RCI can in fact begin its work by putting the cart-before-the-horse i.e. ensure that the EC is online to JPN to do a verification exercise of its electoral rolls.

It can also begin its work by persuading the Federal Government to offer a general amnesty to those holding MyKads to which they are not eligible under the Federal Constitution and those complicit in the commission of acts of treason.

If Sabahans get what they expect from the RCI i.e. leaner, meaner electoral rolls, among others, Najib can expect to win the state at the forthcoming 13th General Election which has to be held by April/May next year. But no one is holding their breath.

Needless to say, the GE has to be delayed until the work of the RCI has been completed in six months and subsequently translated into action and the electoral rolls cleaned up. But will it?

The fact is most Malaysians expect Najib to call for GE-13 before the conclusion of the RCI and the shit hits the fan. Irate Sabahans will surely bay for blood at having been made fools of yet again by the BN federal government.

Malaysia Chronicle

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Najib can still win *IF* Najib implements the 3 items below immediately with that mandate BN has :

;anytime Najib confirms the above 3 items BN will win, or else PR will step on BN, if not 3rd Force . . . which may not step on both BN (apartheid and corruption) and PR (nepotism and 90% failed campaign promises) but still take over the Dewan . . . Proposed 3rd Force Party below :

It is not about the government, it is about us – Monday, 13 August 2012 Super Admin Raja Petra Kamarudin

So we end up with a better government. And we achieve this by voting in a new government. Then what? Has society changed? Do we now live in a better society? We may now have a progressive government. But do we also now have a progressive society or are Malaysians all still backward thinking and narrow-minded and feel that apostates should be put to death and gays should be sent to jail?

Chua exposes another spin by DAP to sow hatred

(The Star) – Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has exposed yet another DAP political spin aimed at sowing hatred among Malaysians in Sabah and Sarawak and their peninsula counterparts.

A Facebook posting had the MCA president’s photograph with him supposedly saying “Sabah and Sarawak cannot compete with the peninsula”.

Next to it was a picture of Olympic bronze medallist Pandelela Rinong Pamg.

Dr Chua stressed that what he had actually said was “while MCA supports the awarding of scholarships based on meritocracy, we also support the Government’s efforts to help the socially and economically disadvantaged groups in Sabah and Sarawak”.

“What I had said is we cannot expect the people of Sarawak and Sabah to be able to compete with the people in, say, the Klang Valley.”

“The reason is that, education facilities in many places in Sabah and Sarawak are still below par as compared to those in the Klang Valley,” he said after opening the Sabah MCA convention here yesterday.

He accused DAP of being unethical and misleading, adding that it was typical of the Opposition.

Dr Chua said political parties, despite their differences, should pursue the policy that “we are one Malaysia”.

“Sabahans and Sarawakians should realise that MCA will always support any special assistance for them,” he said.

*******************************************

There are two ways to get people to support you. One would be to get them to love you. The other would be to get them to hate the other person.

Getting people to love you is harder. Getting them to hate the other person is easier. Hence a hate campaign has a better chance of success than a love campaign.

Religionists do this all the time. And they have been doing it for thousands of years. I have read articles on anti-Islam sites that raise all sorts of negative issues about Prophet Muhammad, Islam, Muslims, Islamic countries and so on. Basically, it is a campaign to sow hate and to turn people into Islam-Muslim haters.

And the Muslims are not innocent either in their anti-Christian/anti-Jew campaigns.

Do you know that many Malays, meaning Muslims, cheered when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait? What is the rational in celebrating one Muslim country invading another Muslim country? Well, the rational, if you can rationalise an invasion, is as follows:

Kuwait and the many other small sheikhdoms and emirates were all once part of the great Islamic Ottoman Empire. Then, soon after the First World War, the evil Christian colonial empires from the west broke up the great Islamic Empire into smaller nations. Basically, this move was aimed at weakening Islam. Since then, the Islamic countries have been brought under the control of the Christian imperialists and all those ‘new’ nations are lackeys of the west.

And for that reason the Malays or Malaysian Muslims rejoiced when Saddam invaded Kuwait and they were very disappointed when Iraq lost the war.

The same happened during 911. Muslims all over the world danced in the streets when the New York Twin Towers was brought down. Osama Bin Ladin T-shirts were selling like hot cakes, even in Chow Kit Road in Kuala Lumpur. Even some PAS supporters were using those T-shirts during the election campaigns.

The fact that, out of about 3,000 people killed in that attack, there were around 60-70 Muslims amongst the victims seems to have escaped these people. And this did not include the 19 or so hijackers, who were also Muslims.

Hate, therefore, can cloud rational thinking. And if you can sow enough hate people are able to celebrate the killing of innocent people, even if those murdered are women and children.

In Malaysia, politics is played the same way. You have to make the voters hate the other side to get them to vote for you. Hence race and religion need to be played to the hilt because there is nothing more potent than race and religion, and a combination of both makes it a very explosive concoction indeed.

So, Barisan Nasional raises all sorts of issues against the opposition leaders while Pakatan Rakyat does the same regarding the Barisan Nasional leaders. It is no longer about policies, good governance, sustainable development, protecting the environment, ensuring that the young are prepared to face a most competitive future in a globalised and borderless world, improving the quality of life, respecting fundamental liberties, breeding a civil society, etc.

Many regard these issues as idealism. This is not the time to be idealistic. They say we need to be realistic. And the realistic thing would be we would not be able to change anything unless we first kick out the political party in power and replace it with another political party.

When I say I do not agree with this argument there would be many who will foam at the mouth and accuse me of saying that I am asking them not to vote for Pakatan Rakyat but to keep Barisan Nasional in power instead.

What has this got to do with Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat? I am not talking about the elections. I am not talking about changing Prime Ministers. I am talking about reforms, and the reform I specifically have in mind is regarding reforming the thinking of Malaysians. It is no use changing governments or even abolishing the Constitutional Monarchy and turning Malaysia into a Republic if we ourselves have not reformed.

Let’s not talk about a revolution, which is what we are talking about here — a revolution through the ballot box. What good is changing the government (which is what you are talking about) if we have not changed our mentality (which is what I am talking about)?

We must first decide what type of society we want to live in. The government we choose is merely the implementers of our aspirations. They are our trustees and nominees that we send to Parliament or the State Assemblies. But do we, in the first place, have any aspirations?

There are many unresolved issues that will remain unresolved even if we change the government. And the new government cannot resolve these unresolved issues because society itself has not changed its mindset.

Okay, maybe I need to run through a few examples to help you grasp the point I am trying to make. One example would be the status of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Is this community welcome in Malaysia? Are Malaysians ready to respect the right of every citizen to live the life of his or her choice?

What about civil partnership? Can Malaysians accept two people living together as civil partners and accord them the same rights as a married couple, even if they are same-sex civil partners?

Are Malaysians ready to discard discrimination based on race, religion and gender and allow full meritocracy to prevail, even to the extent of accepting a non-Malay-non-Muslim Prime Minister?

Are Malaysians, especially Muslims, prepared to allow absolute freedom of religion, which will include the freedom not to have any religion or to embrace atheism?

This is merely the tip of the iceberg and there are so many other issues that are preventing the country from moving forward.

Can ‘grass’ be legalised? After all, you can still get it easily enough and by outlawing it you are just making the underground syndicate extremely rich — like what happened during the Prohibition in America when by banning liquor it just allowed the gangsters to make money.

Can prostitution be legalised? You can find prostitutes on every street corner in Malaysia, even in Kota Baru, and by making it illegal, it not only helps the underworld make tons of money but it turns the Malaysian police force into a very corrupted organisation.

And the same goes for gambling and money lending. In the UK, the underworld can’t make money from gambling and money lending because it is not illegal, and neither is prostitution or grass (as long as it is for personal use and you are not trafficking).

The real problem is not the political parties. What they want is merely to get into power. The problem is whether we know what we want. And I know you are going to reply: we want an end to abuse of power and corruption.

But is this all we want? It is a good start, I know. But a corrupt-free government is about the government. That is not about us. I am asking: what does society want? What kind of society do we want to live in, not what type of government do we want?

So we end up with a better government. And we achieve this by voting in a new government. Then what? Has society changed? Do we now live in a better society? We may now have a progressive government. But do we also now have a progressive society or are Malaysians all still backward thinking and narrow-minded and feel that apostates should be put to death and gays should be sent to jail?

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

As good a backtrack and withdrawal if not pointed enough in reference to the earlier offending articles. This shows at least some Malaysians are up to par where ‘Freedom of Humanity ‘ is concerned. At least someone had the iron clad guts to digest AND smarts to reconcile what some of us write! How about one more article on :

;after which return to Malaysia to try for PM (2 TERMS ONLY!) and displace the nepotism and clique paradigm running in our supposed ‘saviours’ in Pakatan?

Lead 3rd force with Tunku Aziz and any would be reformists ready to ditch BN’s racists and lapsdogs. These guys have the ethos (well fractured as is), so how about using the logos of the above and destroying the pathos of hegelian dialectic and backwardness of Malaysians, where colluding governments and term limitless oligarchs and nepotists, also plutocrats, are identified as bad for country and removed? With the above 3 items as raison d’etre, the next PM and any assenting MPs will be the true father of modern Malaysia, is that not worth a shot given the free time and wealth and networks put to no good use as of now that some of us have? . . .

BOTH BN and PR . . . GTFO of Dewan! 3rd Force is best!

Hence, seperation of state and religion (to prevent Theocracy), state and military (to prevent Junta), state and police (to prevent Nazi-like SS State) and state and term limitless politicians (to prevent Oligarchy-Feudalism-Term limitless Nepotism) is needed.

***Commentator Comments

…
written by panca, August 13, 2012 21:15:33
Pete, I think you ve got me wrong here. What I was saying is how are we supposed to change from a constitution that is far from freedom of choice which isn’t conducive nor democratic that I prefer not than to one that encompasses individual rights which do not hate other individual different from another individual’s preference! Therefore my point how can we have this freedom as it sounds that it boils down to us, the people and not the govt as you put it while it could not simply be us when we are not the law-makers to amend the constitution except them!

I did not promote hate, not in any instance about the rights of individual and I stand corrected that the parliament consists of MP or Monkey playing to the gallery of Race, Religion and Royalty!

…
written by Admiral Tojo, August 13, 2012 20:53:58
You know Pete, I am totally at peace with LBGT, freedom of Belief, The differences in our colors and languages, cultures, food and what have you. Then again my mind was set free by the Quran, which is categorically against those who defy commonsense and religions. I am afraid that most Malaysians, including those so called learned ones, are slaves of their minds, pagans (unsophisticated), put there by their self appointed GOD representatives. They are still unable to totally obliterate the reference BOX that they have. They are incapable of thinking WITHOUT a box. All we can do is keep on trying to free these SLAVES.

Shalom

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written by jacko2012, August 13, 2012 20:51:46
Please have some patience. People’s mindset will not be able to change overnight but government can. Many aunties uncles still living in the fear of 513. That doesn’t change overnight.
For more than 50 years, Rakyat is living in the concept of TOP-DOWN approach. TOP being the government and DOWN being to Rakyat. The information is being feed from the TOP to DOWN. Other words, Government talk and Rakyat have to listen.

With the new government and perhaps with loosen press act, people able to access to unbiased main stream media, people able to be much more vocal without fearing of ISA. When there’s too much noise from the BOTTOM, the government have to listen. That’s when Rakyat kick off BOTTUP-UP approach.
When the perception change, mindset change. It just takes some time.

…
written by loh333, August 13, 2012 20:24:50
The government molds the thinking of the people. Article 153 was supposed to make Malays competitive. But the government made NEP short-cut to wealth for the people in power, or connected to those in power. Corruption is rampant and politics is now the most rewarding occupation. UMNO has perfected government functions to enrich the leaders. There will be no change to their method of operation. A new government gives hope.

…
written by tom73my, August 13, 2012 20:17:18
Admittedly not many Malaysians have first class mentality like RPK who is now more British than Malaysian. But that’s not my point today.

My point is, changing the government is part of the process of changing the mindset of the people. Changing the gov is the first step towards the change of mindset, which is the goal, the end game. If we keep getting rid of the more corrupt, over a period of time, we will have a clean gov. It’s the natural process of elimination of the weakest. As the gov gets cleaner, they will provide better leadership, better policies towards achieving first class mentality of the people. Don’t believe me? Just think what Biro Tatanegara has done to Malaysia.

…
written by Veritas Aequitas, August 13, 2012 18:59:06
If one were to do a survey of hate and anti-religion sites against the following;
1. Islam
2. Christianity
3. Judaism
4. Hinduism
5. Buddhism
6. Taoism
7. Janism
8. Zoroastrianism

One can be confident 95% of hate sites are against religions 1 to 3. These sites are associated with the secular community, ex-believers or between themselves.
The condemnation of the other religions 4-8, are mostly from Christian or Islamic sites.

Why are the religions 1-3 hated so significantly in contrast to the the religions of 4 to 6?
I think the answers to the root causes can be found within those religions themselves. But due to cognitive bias, they will never look inward to see their own faults.

As for progress, there must be real changes in brain neuron connectivities and more activation in the higher human brain. Using PC as an analogy, the majority of humans brains are operating like the IBM XT-5160 @4.77 MHz. The majority of human brains are being more primate than being human. To facilitate progress we must expedite to increase the power of human consciousness via greater brain connectivities.

..
written by katak, August 13, 2012 18:48:11
Policies and laws are set by the government-of-the-day. A progressive government tends to set progressive policies and laws. Such progressive laws and policies will enable a more progressive learning environment and a more progressive education. A progressive education can lead to a progressive mindset and thus resulting in a progressive society.

This is what we want our society to be. So, for the first step, BN/UMNO has to be kicked out.

…
written by Orang utan, August 13, 2012 18:32:58
We are talking about super structures – individual and societal mindset, education, religion, politics. All of these are buggered – selfishness and divisiveness largely brought about by narrow minded parenting and selective interaction with fellow countrymen; lack of lateral thinking, prejudicial and opportunistic deeds brought about by inept and tampered education, selfishness and mental corruption brought about by individual’s personal interest and mindless media (including international). What do we have here? A society with stunted mental growth exacerbated by religious doctrines and mumbo jambo politics.

It would take years, decades even for the country’s mental state to be liberalised and key to this is originality and creativity but mindful of reason and decency. Science is allowed to be taught and practised freely, religion stay out of this.

Malaysians have long questioned the wisdom of having to renew driving licence every year, and wary of this, PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan today proposed that driving licence be issued for life.

According to Nasrudin, Pakatan Rakyat could mull this proposal if it assumes Federal power at the next general election.

“I propose that if Pakatan Rakyat rules, just issue a permanent driving license without the need to renew,” he remarked on his Twitter.

Nasrudin said renewal of driving license was another of a long list of costs that burdened the public.

When contacted by Harakahdaily on how the plan could be realised, Nasrudin said a frequent traffic offender could be denied life-long licence and be made to renew it periodically.

One way to do this is by issuing different colours of driving licences where bearers would have to renew periodically until “they behave for certain period of time”.

Saying the mechanism need to be further detailed, he stressed that the main focus should be to reduce people’s burden.

“Every year, we pay road tax and car insurance. When there is a summons, we can’t renew the road tax and will be suspended and the vehicle cannot be used.

“This makes renewing driving license redundant… So long as the driver behaves, the licence should not expire,” he explained.

-Harakahdaily

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Hey there PAS, purloining ideas? But since I do not have an official political platform or MP’s seat to claim credit by, I won’t waste time fighting about something so useful. Remember voters, this was initiated/inspired by moi’s posting/comment, not PAS’s ingenuity . . .

(The Star) – Ex-Sepang DAP parliamentary liaison committee member Tan Tuan Tat, who was accused of forging 149 membership forms, has produced two former party supporters to back him up.

Mahful Wahid said he had collected membership forms from some 100 people in Kampung Teluk Manggis and Taman Kedidi as they were interested in becoming DAP members.

“I approached Tan for help to submit the forms to Selangor DAP. Why was he accused of forgery?” he said, adding that he, too, had been interested in joining DAP.

Such accusations, added Mahful, had caused him to lose confidence in Pakatan Rakyat.

DAP disciplinary committee chairman Tan Kok Wai said that Tuan Tat, who had been in the party for 18 years, had been charged with forging the membership forms to set up three pro tem branches in Sungai Pelek, Sepang.

He also claimed that the MyKad of people from Sungai Pelek were used without their knowledge to enrol them as DAP members.

Former Pantai Sepang Putra DAP chief R. Veerasamy echoed Mahful’s views, saying that he had also approached Tuan Tat for help to forward the forms to the state DAP’s office.

“In the end, I was found guilty of falsifying the applications and sacked,” he said during a press conference here yesterday.

Denying the accusations, Tuan Tat said it was meant to slander his integrity and credibility.

“Don’t defame me. I did not forge any forms.

“The forms were genuine and came from people who wanted to join DAP,” he said.

Tuan Tat, who used to be Taman Sri Sungai Pelek branch chairman before leaving the party last week, said DAP had deviated from its original spirit and essence.

(Bernama) – A study on retirement trends in East Asia has revealed the increasing vulnerability of Malaysians due to early retirement age as well as low rates of pension receipt under the Employees’ Provident Fund and the lack of old-age poverty floor.

The study report, “Balancing Tradition and Modernity: The Future of Retirement in East Asia”, is based on a survey that the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) conducted in Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, according to Prudential in a statement on the survey findings.

The CSIS East Asia Retirement Survey reveals that an astonishing 92 per cent of current retirees in Malaysia report that they had already left the workforce by age 60 and suggests that Malaysia’s pattern of premature retirement will likely persist. Malaysia is the only country in the survey whose fertility rate is above the 2.1 replacement level and the only one that will have a growing population and workforce in the coming decades, the report said.

“In China, the elderly share of the population will be approaching 30 per cent by 2040 -– and in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan it will be approaching 40 per cent. In Malaysia, it will still be under 20 per cent,” it said.

Malaysia’s early mandatory retirement age, however, offsets its demographic advantage in building an adequate and sustainable retirement system, it added.

Co-authored by Richard Jackson and Neil Howe, it is part of the multilayer Global Ageing Preparedness Project, which was launched by CSIS and British insurance giant Prudential plc in 2010.

The survey found four out of five of today’s retirees in Malaysia worry about “being poor and in need of money,” becoming “a burden on their children,” and being “in ill health and having no one to care for them” – much larger shares than in any of the other survey countries.

Their vulnerability is attributable to Malaysia’s unusually early retirement ages, which leaves retirees at risk of outliving their savings, as well as to low rates of pension receipt under the EPF and to the lack of an age-old poverty floor, the survey said.

Retirement prospects are improving for the younger generations, who expect to be less dependent on the extended family than today’s retirees are and to rely more heavily on their own savings, it said.

But with one in five current workers still expecting to receive no pension benefits of any kind, the outlook for many is far from secure, it added. Donald Kanak, Chairman of Prudential Corporation Asia, which is part of Prudential plc, said: “Responding to the challenges caused by an ageing population is critical to Asia’s future.

“It is critical that policy makers and the industry work together to address this vital question.” Charlie Oropeza, Chief Executive Officer of Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd, said: “The findings of the CSIS Study reinforce the need for Malaysians to better plan and secure their financial position towards retirement.

“While the policymakers as well as the Malaysian Government have been introducing frameworks such as the Financial Blueprint to provide greater length and breadth of financial products and services, Malaysians need to be more aware and make themselves financially ready through prudent investment decisions.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Vote moi or anyother who intend that wealth limit of 20 million and land distribution thing, for MP and ensure EVERYONE has an equal share of Malaysia, not makes shares smaller by giving out illegal citizenships. Meanwhile grant :

;we’ll send the plutocrats packing with some useless fiat ‘compensation’ (lots of zeros on useless banana scrip for their land and properties) to plague other nations with ‘Wealth Sequestration’, meanwhile Malaysia becomes that much richer because of fewer citizens. Think citizens! We are going to set a precedent for human civilisation and economics by removing plutocrats and basing wealth on population number to land size ratios instead!

Kelantan Chief Minister said that, the reason that people understand first before implementing Hudud laws should not be accepted.

(FMT) – Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat insists there is no reason to defer implementing Hudud laws in this country.

Kelantan Chief Minister said that, the reason that people understand first before implementing Hudud laws should not be accepted.

“For me there is no principle of law and on the basis of logic needs to hang about the implementation of Hudud is partly kerana than sharia law mandated in Islam.

“It kerana no law or legislation in the world, just under the democratic system Want even communist ideology waiting folk and agreed first, and implemented.

“On his deep, what other features the laws in Malaysia, he created and implemented without waiting for all parties to understand or agree.

“Termasuklah Pertubuhan the United Nations itself was a menguatkuasakan formation of the state of Israel in Palestine opposed the earth by the great Palestinian people themselves.

“Hatta U.S. President Barack Obama participated agree with the regulations ‘similar kahwin’ though majoriti the world reject it,” he said in a reality today.

Choppy seas

Add Mursyidul Am PAS, legal issues may be something there Kefahaman and are implemented after the approval of all parties, he was something not right in kaedah legislation to oversee and educate people towards goodness.

Moreover, the issue of Islamic law (Hudud) instead of the option to refuse or accept the human family. The task of the authorities in the name of Islam is kewajipan and responsibility. Thus the need for a conducive atmosphere is not a barrier to the implementation of the law of God.

He said, until when was any reason without faith and reasonable argument was always an excuse to rescind the acceptance and implementation of Allah’s law?

What is certain, the law of Allah SWT still in harmony with natural laws and His creatures.

“Even if waiting for the sound waves subside, until when the fishermen will be out to sea? When it’s choppy seas, fishing boat may be rolled into the sea to catch fish, “said Nik Aziz.

In fact, he said, the effort has been dimulakan since the 90’s anymore when Enakmen Jenayah Kelantan Syariah II 1993 and Enakmen Jenayah Terengganu Syariah-2003 was introduced in both the two country.

Before that again he said, they have introduced draft legislation that the NGO Islam and non-Muslims and has raised the suggestion that the issue of hudud perlaksanaan dealt in parlimen.

“PAS hudud positively received and hudud is kewajipan Muslims.

“We will continue langsungkannya through democratic space,” he told the media after the hearing mempengerusikan Mesyuarat Political Bureau and Options Kingdom Supreme official PAS in parti it this afternoon.

Asked since Pengerusi DAP Carpal Singh issued a fact that often oppose hudud perlaksanaan, PAS president said It is not something that is complicated for PAS.

“The issue is not complicated Carpal opponent. Therefore Allah revealed Surah Al-Maidah which Jews and infidels are not in favor of Islam and Allah sent down the verse.

“What we are opposed to the severity of UMNO. Fact take steps to insulate,” he said.

He helped give a sample letter that dihantar warnings from the center to the Kelantan royal Want an expressed desire to implement hudud in the country.

In fact, he said Umno able to ration foreign kempen not to come whitewash this country will kerana hudud laws are implemented.

“Even if PAS is no power (to rule) now sorts Umno, PAS will not shut up Anybody who scolds son including royal accomplices,” he said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Kelantan Chief Minister said that, the reason that people understand first before implementing Hudud laws should not be accepted. – BUT Nik Aziz forgets that Hudud does not exist in Islam at all and also forgets the minority Muslims who do not want to be affected by Hudud. Hegelian dialectic!

Using democratic methods of implementing undemocratic laws that will affect minorities is a sign of authoritarianism. Must be terrible being a Muslim when such dichotomies and oxymorons in the use of the word ‘democracy’ exist. If a minority of Muslims did not want Hudud, a TRUE DEMOCRACY will cater for them by allowing abstention clauses. This is undemocratic as hell . . . a shadowy hell . . .

…
written by Bernard, August 26, 2012 04:01:50
Nik Aziz has the right to push for the implementation of hudud laws for the Muslim. He has expressed clearly that the Non-Muslim are not affected. Karpal Singh has the right to oppose Hudud laws for the Non Muslims. He should not oppose the Hudud laws for the Muslim. Both have to agree to disagree on this issue. – I am most concerned about the rights of minorities. As of now Muslims cannot be apostate without becoming 2nd class citizens. Does hudud not compound the current issue without imposing hudud as well?
…
written by jcsh_04, August 25, 2012 16:28:11
A nightmare indeed! They dont need 2/3 vote to change the constitution. If PR in power everthing is possible.

Let the Mad Mullah and the Idol worshipper fight each other…
“Our knowledge of the historical worth of certain religious doctrines increases our respect for them, but does not invalidate our proposal that they should cease to be put forward as the reasons for the precepts of civilization. On the contrary! Those historical residues have helped us to view religious teachings, as it were, as neurotic relics, and we may now argue that the time has probably come, as it does in an analytic treatment, for replacing the effects of repression by the results of the rational operation of the intellect.”

If I were a non-Muslim, I would not get involved in the Hudud debate, knowing that the Malays-Muslims themselves will never come to an agreement on the matter. Once I get involved, then we face the danger of the Malays who oppose Hudud agreeing with those who propose Hudud merely because they want to defend Islam from what they view as an attack by the non-Muslims.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

When we apply two different approaches to a subject, invariably, we will not be able to reconcile the answer we seek. For example, seeking the answer to our existence would not give us the same result when one is guided by theology and the other applies sociology, anthropology, history and archaeology.

Why do we exist? Is it by accident or is it by design? And is our existence the ultimate purpose, which will end when we expire, or is it merely a temporary step to a final destination, which will be determined by how we live our life in this world?

Such a basic question but not one that can be answered that simply. The answer, invariably, will be determined by what ‘logic’ we apply. And is the logic we are applying really logical? How, in the first place, can we define logic when different yardsticks are being applied? And when should logic be discarded for a higher discipline, that of the word of God, which is above logic and requires faith?

No, it is not a simple puzzle to solve. Even the matter of freedom of expression falls victim to many different viewpoints. Is name-calling and labelling someone Keling Pariah, Mamak Tongkang or Cina Mata Sepet, exceeding the boundaries of freedom of expression and falls within the classification of racial slurs or is this what freedom of expression is all about?

Try calling a British of Pakistani origin a Paki here in Britain and see what will happen to you. Is not a British a Brit and an Australian an Aussie and an American a Yank? So what’s wrong with a Pakistani being called a Paki? It is not that a Pakistani is not a Paki but the fact that it has been ‘agreed’, by whom I do not know, that the word Paki is a racial slur.

And it is not just that society accepts the word Paki as a racial slur. It is also how you say it — the tone of your voice and the look on your face. A Malay is certainly a Melayu, there is no denying that. But it is how you use the word Melayu that counts. Using the ‘correct’ tone of voice and with the ‘right’ look on your face, the word Melayu can be turned into an insult.

So how do we resolve the matter of Hudud, the punishment for crimes under the Islamic laws known as the Sharia? Before that, can this matter even be resolved in the first place? Well, not if we apply two different yardsticks in arguing the case for or against Hudud. No issue can be resolved when two different yardsticks are applied and both are considered logical to the proponents as well as the opponents of Hudud.

A Pakistani is a Paki to a non-Pakistani but an insult to a Pakistani. Both are right. Yet both can never come to an agreement as to whether it was meant as an insult or not. Maybe it was a statement of fact. Maybe it was an insult. The only way to avoid the crosswire would be to call a Pakistani a Brit and leave it at that.

After all, Britons no longer exist anyway. Every Brit is a son or daughter of an immigrant. The only thing is did they migrate to Britain 100 B.C. or 2,000 years after that? Invariably, every Brit, if the roots are traced, came from somewhere outside Britain. That is the reality of the whole thing. At best, they can claim some British blood but can never lay claim to a thoroughbred Brit. Hence, the Pakistani is as British as the Royal Family or the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

When would we consider the cut-off date? If the year 100 were the cut-off date then the Italians would be Brits. If 300 were the cut-off date then the Scandinavians would be Brits. If 500 were the cut-off date then the Germans would be Brits. If 1100 were the cut-off date then the French would be Brits. If 1990 were the cut-off date then those from the Indian subcontinent would be Brits. If there is no cut-off date then everyone is a Brit. There are no Pakistanis in Britain, and hence no Pakis as well.

See how simple it is in Britain. Britain never saw independence because it never lost its independence. Britain was conquered by one power after another over more than 2,000 years and the conquerors became Brits, even when they spoke French and not a word of English. So everyone in Britain is a Brit and there are no pendatangs. If there are pendatangs, then every single person in Britain is a pendatang. It is as simple as that.

But in Malaysia it is more complicating. Malaysia never existed until 1963. From 1957 it existed as Malaya. Before that there was no Malaya. The British created Malaya. And in creating Malaya they also created Malays, who also never existed until the British created them. And the British declared that Malaya belonged to the Malays and everyone else is an immigrant.

But what is the cut-off date? The cut-off date is not clear. If the cut-off date were 1700 then the entire Selangor Royal Family would be pendatang. If the cut-off date were 31st August 1957 then only those born outside the country after that date would be pendatangs. Those born outside Malaya before 31st August 1957 and those born in the country after 31st August 1957 would be Malaysians.

Nevertheless, the British had decided that Malaya would be given independence on 31st August 1957 and with independence we would receive a written Constitution, something that the British themselves do not have. And in this written Constitution it would be stated plus implied that the Malays own the land. And to reinforce this ownership, Islam would be the religion of the land, Malay would be the official language, and Malays would be accorded certain privileges.

This was the agreement, whether stated or implied. And it was an agreement that all the races in Peninsular Malaysia agreed to adopt. It was not unilateral. It was bilateral. Was this a mistake, especially on the part of the Chinese and the Indians? On hindsight it is always easy to talk. Everyone is an expert on hindsight. It is foresight that matters. Did the Chinese and Indians not have the foresight to see that an open-ended agreement with no expiry date would be binding to future generations of Chinese and Indians who would still be regarded as Chinese and Indians and ‘secondary’ Malayans?

And this is why we are currently facing a problem regarding Hudud. To Malaysians who are not Muslims, Hudud is viewed as a legal matter. It involves the punishment meted out for certain crimes. Hence Hudud needs to be discussed under the ambit of the legal system.

They are, of course, correct.

To Muslims, however, Hudud is not about the law. It is about what God has commanded. And God’s command is beyond discussion. It is about acceptance without argument. To reject God’s command is like the Catholics rejecting the Trinity or the Jews rejecting the Ten Commandments. It is a matter that cannot be compromised.

They are, of course, also correct — at least as far as each religious faith is concerned.

So both are correct, no one is wrong. So how do we resolve a situation where both are correct and no one is wrong but the ‘correctness’ of their views places them at odds?

As long as the Muslims in Malaysia believe that Islam is the religion of the land and hence whatever is mandatory in Islam becomes mandatory for the whole country then this is not a matter that will see a solution.

All other religions will be allowed, but Islam is the religion of the land, not the other religions. The Malays are masters of the land. Non-Malays will be allowed a place under the Malaysian sun but will be secondary to the Malays. This is what the British intended for independent Malaya. And the British made sure that this intention was clearly stated in a written Constitution.

Basically, we are faced with a belief system here, the belief that the Malays are the masters of the land and Islam is the religion of the land. And belief systems are not easy to eradicate. Can we convince the Christians that Jesus Christ was a mere man and not divine or the Son of God, hence the Trinity does not exist? Can we convince the Muslims that the Qur’an was not the word of God because it was compiled by a ‘committee’ years after the death of the Prophet and ‘strengthened’ by the Hadith, which was a creation of ‘spin-doctors’?

I fear that would be an impossible task. Both the Christians as well as the Muslims would never change their belief system just because you say so. Belief systems are carved in stone. And the belief that the Malays are masters of the land and Islam is the religion of the land is not a belief system that the Malays or Muslims will readily reject.

So what do we do about Hudud? What can we do about it? As long as the Malays believe that the Qur’an is God’s word and that Hudud is God’s command and that Islam is the religion of the land there is nothing we can do about it.

Can we resist or oppose Hudud? Well, can we resist or oppose the law that forbids Muslims from leaving Islam to become Christians, Hindus or Buddhists?

The only ‘good’ thing about the Hudud issue — if you were the eternal optimist who always tries to see good in everything, like the ‘blessing in disguise’ thing — is that Hudud has been reduced to a political issue. Hence, when it becomes a political issue, one side will oppose when the other side proposes. And this would mean that even amongst the Muslims the Hudud issue would never be resolved.

If I were a non-Muslim, I would not get involved in the Hudud debate, knowing that the Malays-Muslims themselves will never come to an agreement on the matter. Once I get involved, then we face the danger of the Malays who oppose Hudud agreeing with those who propose Hudud merely because they want to defend Islam from what they view as an attack by the non-Muslims.

Let me put it another way. When the Chinese are of the opinion that Chinese education is ‘under attack’, even the MCA and DAP people can sit at the same table under the umbrella of Chinese education to hammer out an issue of common interest. And this is what can happen when Hudud is viewed as ‘under attack’ — the Malays will share a common platform in the interest of ‘mempertahankan kedaulatan Islam’ (in defence of the sanctity of Islam).

So be careful with what you say. Calling a Pakistani a Paki may be kosher to you. The Pakistani, however, may view it as an insult and you can go to jail in Britain if you pass racial slurs. In that same spirit, labelling Hudud as barbaric and those who propagate it as stupid is certainly your right under freedom of expression. To the Muslim, however, that is an insult to God and freedom of expression does not include insulting God.

So what do we do then? Do we just shut up and accept the fact that we must lose certain freedom of expression? Or do we speak our mind whatever the consequences in the interest of freedom of expression?

Honestly, I really do not know. When two different sets of values are applied I am at a loss. My solution would be to just let the two sides argue and we see where the cards fall. Most likely they will continue to argue into the next generation without any resolution. In that case nothing will happen so we do not need to address anything.

Is this a solution? Maybe not! It is more like ignoring it and hoping it will go away. But that is how I sometimes handle the common cold and it does go away. Then, sometimes it may become pneumonia, who knows? But next month I will be 62 and I am still alive. So maybe I have not come out the worst for ignoring the common cold and just allowing it to run its course after all.

But, yes, I know, we all want to speak and say something. We do not want to allow the ‘other side’ to speak unchallenged. So we speak even when what we say is not going to achieve anything. And we will all scream and oppose or scream and defend Hudud when we know nothing is going to happen in the end. And we will find out that loose lips sink ships. But never mind if the ship sinks as long as we can talk while it sinks.

Such is the folly of mankind. And aren’t wars fought in defence of national pride and dignity when all that is merely another word for ego? And who am I to take away your right of free speech, never mind what is being said will see no light at the end of the tunnel? That, in the end, is what will prevail.

…
written by Pollux, August 27, 2012 00:56:47
Ok RPK, we will not debate about hudud. We could, however, set one condition, which would be fair in light of this topic about yardsticks.
If hudud laws are to be implemented then it must coincide with the right to bear arms, without licences or permits just as it was back in the good old days. Then we will all be using the same yardstick and, if I may, mentality. Then everything will be back as it was in the medieval days. No right to bear arms, no hudud. Let’s all go back to the time when hudud came about and was first practiced. The right to bear arms was after all taken away by those colonialists Brits who needed to control the masses.

…
written by Azman, August 26, 2012 23:47:14
Hudud law is Muhammad law ! Muhammad used Islam to get politic power ! Why Muslims have to suffer so much Islam law which effect their life, work and business ? Why non-Muslim no follow but Allah no punish them ? That mean Allah like non-Muslim more then Muslim ! Actually all human is equal only religious make human difference !

…
written by azm, August 26, 2012 23:36:13

Lesley Hazleton (born 1945) is an award-winning British-American writer whose work focuses on the intersection of politics, religion, and history, especially in the Middle East. She reported from Israel for Time, and has written on the Middle East for numerous publications including The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Harper’s, The Nation, and The New Republic.[1]

Hazleton was born in England, and became a United States citizen in 1994. She was based in Jerusalem from 1966 to 1979 and in New York City from 1979 to 1992, when she moved to her current home in Seattle WA, originally to get her pilot’s license. She has two degrees in psychology (B.A. Manchester University, M.A. Hebrew University of Jerusalem).[2]

She has described herself as “a Jew who once seriously considered becoming a rabbi, a former convent schoolgirl who daydreamed about being a nun, an agnostic with a deep sense of religious mystery though no affinity for organized religion”.[3] “Everything is paradox,” she has said. “The danger is one-dimensional thinking”.[4]

In April 2010, she began blogging as The Accidental Theologist,[5] focusing on religion, politics, and existence.[6] In September 2011, she received The Stranger’s Genius Award in Literature. [7]

She is currently working on a new biography of Muhammad,[8] to be published by Riverhead/Viking in spring 2013.

…
written by Zaiton, August 26, 2012 23:29:08
PAS is a fanatic religious party ! If Malaysia rule by them sure will be like Afghanistan during Taliban rule ! If Allah help them sure they always won in election but they always defected ! Politic involve religious that will no fair to others faith !

…
written by azm, August 26, 2012 23:11:06
these are not stated by muslims..

Despite all of the ills of Muslims everywhere, Islam continues to be the fastest growing religion on earth. Professor Huston Smith of the MIT in his book, “The Religions of Man” says, “In some areas where Islam and Christianity are competing for converts, Islam is gaining at a rate of 10 to 1.”

Ambassador Herman Ellis, in a testimony in front of the committee on Foreign Affirs of the House of Represntatives of the United States Congress on June 24th, 1985, said, “The Muslim community of the globe today is in the neighbourhood of one billion. That is an impressive figure. But what to me is equally impressive is that Islam today is the fastest growing monotheistic religion. This is something we have to take into account. Something is right about Islam. It is attracting a good many people.”

Many distinguised Western historians have attested this fact– foremost among whom is Sir Thomas W. Arnold in his book, “The Preaching of Islam”. Also there is Marshall G. Hodgson in his book, “The Venture of Islam”, Albert Hourani in his book, “A History of the Arab People”, Ira Lapidus in his book, “History of Islamic Societies”, L.S. Starorianos in his book, “A Global Hisotry, the Human Heritage” and many others

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written by JRA, August 26, 2012 22:32:48
The first thing we need to do when Hudud is implemented in Malaysia is to ‘potong the Lan Chiao’ of these kurang ajar chinaman making all these kurang ajar comments here!

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written by miya, August 26, 2012 20:55:28
same old issue every time
long long way to Putrajaya smilies/sad.gif

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written by Wan Kembang, August 26, 2012 19:37:54
I feel really angry when Karpal oppose hudud, in which I think he did in a very rude way and disrespecting majority of muslim… but even though I am a Muslim I dont see this as a very big issues for PR as a promising political coalition (but a bit suprised with the reaction from non-Muslim). Honestly if happened I have to vote in Karpal constituency, I definitely vote him even against UMNO-BN Malay Muslim candidate, as UMNO-BN is too rotten to be choose!

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written by Morris, August 26, 2012 19:07:28
It’s a waste of time debating Hudud. All Malays – ians are against it as i see it. from my point of view, they knew that most of the criminals are Malays -ians and I don’t think they like that laws to be used against them. What is most appropriate is, the existing laws should be done without fear or favour.

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written by Alice, August 26, 2012 17:52:28
We should stand up for truth and justice as universal values .Leave religion out of everything. Religion is personal . Hudud I totally oppose. We have enough headache already and confuse us with more religious stuff. Show us your religion through your actions . Show us Islamic countries living happily ever after with hudud laws. After all it will be men who will implement these laws if passed . History has shown us that man has always failed to be just and fair. Look at our own judiciary and the pathetic state it is in.

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written by anakipoh, August 26, 2012 16:36:36
bumi non malay, please just comment on the issue of PAS trying to implement hudud. The moment you skew off tracks and started criticising islam, like calling it flawed, you earn the wrath of all muslims alike, whether those who oppose and those who propose. This is what RPK is trying to warn that non muslims should stay out of this. If you must say something, direct it to the people that are flawed, not the religion itself.

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written by bumi non malay, August 26, 2012 14:54:11
….meanwhile apparently a down syndrome girl is facing death in Pakistan for burning Koran and his brother apparent mutilated….. First because they are christian, 2nd its Islam Great justice systems, 3rd no wonder the Brits hates the “pakis”…..whoops Pakistani.

Bring on hudud…and make sure Hudud can be back tracked to just after Merdeka 1957……. If the punishment is chopping hands for corruption……then please make sure the Defender of islam is Kosher with that…… How many have accepted money for Datuk??…. Off with the Defender of Islam hands… But what if Defender of islam convert to another religion to escape this punishment? Can hudud and melayu terima this??…will they then foam like the Pakistani over a burnt Koran?? There lies the flaw and credibility of Islam!!

In the Anti-Hudud camp = DAP, MCA, MIC, Gerakan and scores of other party (inc those from East Malaysia) – 82 MPs

In the “I am not sure” camp = UMNO and PKR (110 MPs)

Even PAS + UMNO + PKR MPs were to say aye to Hudud = 140, we are still short of the 2/3 to amend the constitution. And we know that even UMNO and PKR is still undecided about Hudud.

Great, now in the PRU-13, let the people decide by their vote.

At this moment with the political make up, Hudud is a non starter. It is a perrenial red herring.

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written by Siudi, August 26, 2012 12:18:11
It still seems that Malaysians are more united under DUIT, not Hudud or whatsoever. Just look at BN, they still stick to each other under CRONYISM. Meanwhile DAP and PAS are still at each other necks over Hudud. So I guess the 2013 election will be just like 2004 all over again

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written by chinois, August 26, 2012 08:57:38
Muslims have been in disagreement with one another for ages. Muslims have been killing one another for ages. I say let muslims settle their problems themselves, if ever. Even if the intention of the non-muslims is to try to talk sense into muslims, it gets perceived as an attack on muslims and Islam. How to help the muslims like that? They don’t want to be helped, they don’t want to listen, they don’t want to be a part of modern society. Better just shut up till they’ve exhausted themselves then say “I told you so”. It’s sad really, but there is just nothing that can be done, by muslims no less what more non-muslims.

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+26
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vote up

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written by Jamie, August 26, 2012 08:42:44
Our political parties are in a state of deep slumber.

Instead of focusing on pressing issues, day in day out they keep harping on trivial issues like this Hudud lah, tokongs lah, blah blah blah.

What are their ideas on overcoming or at least insulating us the rakyat, from the effects of the financial crises? Banks rigging LIBOR rates, a 50 to 1 ratio of derivatives liability, a great whirlpool waiting to turn into a black hole. What has PAS proposed to do? Or is it that Hudud will miraculously save us?

What have they done about Syria and Iran? Western powers are hell bent on turning these countries into living hells and what has Malaysia done to help these people?

Eco crises – so what is the stand on Fukushima? Does anyone realize that Fukushima has been spewing out radiation that has reached the US West Coast? Think Malaysia will not be part of the fallout? Where are the contingency plans?

Freedom of speech – Our freedom of speech is under attack everywhere in the world. UK threatening to storm an embassy for granting asylum to Julian Assange, Brandon Raub sent to a mental hospital for questioning the events of 9/11, Quebec banning student protests (that’s more draconian than 42smilies/cool.gif, Evidence Act 114A, ISA in Singapore, ad nauseum. So is PAS joining the anti-free speech crowd too?

Just a few things mentioned above already shows our world is in a state of deep crisis. But for PAS and sundry to do all these kind of clownish antics, deeply convinces me that they are not concerned about Malaysia’s future, they only care about living in their own shell which will be blast open by external forces eventually. As one famous person says, by their fruits you will know them. You say left and right that you will go to heaven. Sorry, you want to rush headlong into destruction go ahead, I’m going to do what’s right.

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written by Admiral Shin, August 26, 2012 07:17:34
Well, YM, I have never whacked Islam/ Hudud per se. I have written against Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and other religious bigots in the past.
I know many comments about Islam and hudud are unwarranted; I call upon other MT readers to desist. However, sometimes what you have written begs ” tongue in cheek ” replies!smilies/wink.gif

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written by Pro-arte, August 26, 2012 07:11:20
“Pro-arte, I asked you about the crimes of rebellion, murder and robbery and you talk about rape. Apalah ni. Benci Islam sangat-sangat sampai dah sasul terlajak! ”

The pertinent issue was about whether women can be witnesses in Hudud. The simple answer is No.

You may have a different understanding of Hudud or Islam for that matter, but the pertinent issue is what PAS concept of Hudud is.

Can you categorically state that the PAS Hudud bills allow women to be witnesses, yes or no?

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 06:47:10
Admiral Shin, when I whack Pakatan regarding many issues, the disunity issue being one of them, you all whack me and allege that I have been bought off. Why are you anti-Hudud/anti-Islam wankers making so much noise? For the sake of Pakatan, for the sake of kicking Umno out, for the sake of making sure that Anwar becomes the next Prime Minister, why don’t you all shut the fuck up? Have you all been bought or what? Are you all trying to sabotage Pakatan? HIDUP HUDUD!

I’m just loving this ‘I told you so’. I hope PAS and DAP choke on Hudud. Then let’s see what you all have to say after that.

RPK

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written by Gift4ever, August 26, 2012 06:20:29
Religion & race is a piss off thingy. Malaysia must not classify a person according to religion and race. When you fill any form there must not be a question on religion and race.
I am no longer in Malaysia, here in Australia not once I have to fill my religion or race on any form. In fact when you ask an Aussie what is your race? The answer will be “Eh?” They thought you are talking about 100 meter race.
My eyes maybe sloppy and skin a bit yellow but who cares when my wallet is bigger than yours.

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 06:19:39
Supercally, yeap, and a good political strategy, don’t you think so? And you wankers are falling for it on top of that. Brilliant! That’s why we have to take our hat off to Umno. They are so clever to get you all to foam at the mouth while they steal the election.

RPK

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 06:15:53
Pro-arte, I asked you about the crimes of rebellion, murder and robbery and you talk about rape. Apalah ni. Benci Islam sangat-sangat sampai dah sasul terlajak!

RPK

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 06:12:12
Lord Jim, actually the only hope for BN in the next election is for the Malays to not vote Chinese DAP and for the Chinese to not vote PAS Malay. I think this Hudud thing might yet achieve the desired result. Hence this unrestrained Islam-whacking is necessary.

RPK

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written by Admiral Shin, August 26, 2012 05:44:19
Perceived insults are generally due to an inferiority complex, insecurity, intransigence as well as ignorance. Many years ago whilst showing a new varsity junior around KL, we were almost bashed up by a ketuanan type bigot because we mentioned the word ” Jalan Melayu “. What he heard was only ” Melayu ” and he took great offence at that. He swung his helmet at us besides levelling kicks our way. We fended off his attacks all the time protesting loudly that we were talking about the street “Jalan Melayu “; he refused to back off uttering expletives all the time until he exhausted himself, after which he was told by one goreng pisang seller that we did indeed talk about the nearby street. He made off with a huff with nary an apology or any sense of guilt.

As a digression, I wonder if our ” body snatchers ” are going to jet off to the US to carry off Neil Amstrong’s body now that the famous astronaut just passed on. There was a real ” shiok sendiri ” belief that Amstrong converted to Islam after hearing the azan on his ear phones whilst prancing on the lunar surface. This is not to ” perli ” anyone, but to show up what ignorance, belligerence and irrational thinking can befall the self appointed religious guardians of faith.

We all should practise good human values which are never at odds with religious tenets. Remember, religions are the tools of the shadowy ruling elites to control the human population through fear, insecurity and idolatry. These psychological states provide immense psychic forces that feed the entity the ruling shadowy elites serve. Humans must take their birthright of freedom, spiritual sovereignty and universal love away from this diabolical control.

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written by Pro-arte, August 26, 2012 04:51:37
RPK said: “Pro-arte, I read through the Hudud law application and I can’t find that part that says they only accept male witnesses for the crime of rebellion, murder, robbery and so on. Maybe you can help me by quoting the title of the book and author so that I can brush up my reading on Hudud. ”

Perhaps you can start by brushing up on the Hudud Bill drafted by the Terengganu state government which was actively promoted by Hadi Awang:

1) A woman cannot be a witness.

2) A woman who reports she has been raped will be charged for qazaf (false accusation) and flogged 80 lashes if she is unable to prove the rape.

3) An unmarried woman who is pregnant is assumed to have committed zina.

The Terengganu Hudud bill in this respect does not appear to be different to the Kelantan Hudud Bill formulated in 1993 where women are not allowed to be witnesses. The Hudud Ordinance of Pakistan also rejects females as witnesses.

I rest my case.

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written by Lord Jim, August 26, 2012 04:51:31
(contd…)

Islam is on its deathbed anyway, there is no problem waiting for an Iran in Asia with our monkeys totally unable to make it last due to its blessed stupidity and primitive mentality, more than one major power would vie to wipe out the monkeys as a favour to themselves – what do you expect, a bunch of wealthy Middle-Eastern monkeys forking out to make Malaysia an Islamic stronghold?

When the mullahs came to power in Iran, those veil and burqa types were desperate getting their hands on rather sexy lingerie and underwear items (worn under their Stone Age fashion) A couple of my (Jewish) Iranian friends made their fortunes supplying sexy clandestinely. I have more faith in our Muslim women keeping their bollocks-swinging men’s “religious” zeal in check. I also have vast confidence in our beer-swigging Muslims to maintain sanity.

Non-Muslims – don’t panic! Whatever happens you will always get your beers and pork and whatever else back! I can even help out with sexy if you want to control the “religious” nutters while waiting for Malaysia to collapse!

Singapore would not welcome “you”, though it would stoke the flame. I would publicly urge non-Muslims to switch off the economy. It would work better than in Palestine, the Israel look-alike in the Malaysian government would be shafting itself stupid if just this happens.

Cronies and those who are into baksheesh would be forced to expose their monkey allies in government, they have their blackmail card. This has been done before in other countries in Southeast Asia and has worked. The non-Muslims have the better reputation in the international economy.

Only card of the monkeys would be the balik Cina/India one and these days you cannot really use that (even if backed by violence and murder) Unlike in the past, China has dropped hints of involvement if it gets dragged into anti-Chinese rows. It is only a few hours to arrive at Malaysia via Thailand at the worse case scenario if our monkeys would provide that excuse. Whereas in the past it is left to the US to do regime change, these days China and India would want a hand too. Nothing better than to help our monkeys destablise Malaysia and killing themselves off! For me, balkanising Malaysia is the best way to get rid of Malaya from Sarawak.

(Cont…)

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written by bpchan, August 26, 2012 04:37:53
Aiyoh… I think the Chinese or non Muslim should comment about illegal 4d , drugs sold in almost every Chinaman Disco , prostitution in massage parlors and etc instead of Hudud , these are the serious social problems happening around us, don’t tell me you guys are not aware .

So many Chua Soi Leks here . Seek help from Cesar Millan please.

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 03:39:02
Dr Syed Alwi, I suppose you are right. If one side will not compromise and back down why should the other side do that? Both sides should stick to their guns come hell or high-water. Eventually something is going to break anyway and that will break the deadlock.

RPK

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written by Super Admin, August 26, 2012 03:30:10
Pro-arte, I read through the Hudud law application and I can’t find that part that says they only accept male witnesses for the crime of rebellion, murder, robbery and so on. Maybe you can help me by quoting the title of the book and author so that I can brush up my reading on Hudud.

By the way, the Islamic law of khalwat (close proximity) already applies in Malaysia. So you do not need Hudud for that since it is currently already the law.

googoodools, some would disagree with you. Some would argue that Chinese education affects all Malaysians since it breeds racism. So I suppose it is one opinion against another.

RPK

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written by Nice n Simple, August 26, 2012 02:56:47
Well, good luck to the Malays who are not born free.

EDITOR: I can see that you are very concerned about the Malays, that’s all. Yeah, right.

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written by Supercally, August 26, 2012 02:21:56
The problem is the non malay (MCA) and the Malay (UMNO) are manipulating the issue to deceive the non malay and malay for their selfish aim

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written by Pro-arte, August 26, 2012 01:57:56
I think people should speak their mind on the Hudud issue. Why are we assuming that Malays are not willing to apply logic? Is it wrong to point out the truth? Hudud only allows males to be witnesses. This immediately conflicts with the Constitution which guarantees equality. Any right thinking person in 2012 would draw the conclusion that Hudud is primitive and outdated in applying this stipulation of having male witnesses only. If a witness can bring a criminal to justice, why should the sex matter?

Malaysians are not entirely stupid and full well know the Hudud issue has surfaced to show Malays that PAS is more true to Islam than UMNO because it supports Hudud. The truth is PAS doesn’t want any discussion on the details and ramifications of implementing Hudud as the reality would make Malays realise that Hudud is no longer relevant in 2012. It is justice for the victim which matters and not the sex of the witness.

I think it is foolhardy to assume that most Malays support the imposition of Hudud in Malaysia because any right thinking Malay even if he supports Hudud would only do so when we have independent Shariah courts, a police force which is not corrupt and a high level of integrity in society. Otherwise Hudud will be abused and atrocities like chopping innocent victims hands and stoning to death innocent couples accused of adultery will occur. Any miscarriages of justice cannot be redressed because limb amputation is permanent and devastating. Similarly raising someone from the dead after being stoned is not an option!
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written by Pro-arte, August 26, 2012 01:51:53
Hudud will most definitely lend itself to abuse and corruption because individuals wanting to escape from having their their limbs amputated will offfer huge bribes if they had the means. The whole legal system would be corrupted in an instant by theiving billionaires. One has to look at the pronouncements of the State Mufti Harussani to realise that these religious scholars can so easily pervert the Koran and Hadiths to justify lies and corruption.

This is our experience of religious politicians as well. They speak with forked tongues. Not so long ago Hadi wanted to ‘muzakarrah’ with UMNO and Tok Aziz opposed it. Now Hadi says he will not ‘muzzakarah with UMNO but Tok Aziz says he wants to ‘muzakarrah’ with UMNO, But when Nasha Mat Isa is seen ‘bermuzakkarah’ with UMNO, they both oppose it !

Malays are watching the antics of these politicians and are making calculations. Of course Malays aspire to be good Muslims but they are no longer so beholden to politicans and religious leaders. The internet has revealed a whole new world of ideas and opinions to them and as a result has opened their minds and exposed the lies and hypocrisy of religious leaders and politicians.

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written by slash, August 26, 2012 01:17:29
jcsh_04, have you seen your god before?have you talk with him ? no? why? so is this called is INSANE too ?

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written by EnoughIsEnough, August 26, 2012 00:59:11
DengXiaoPing the father of modern China applies this approach as well, to leave the problem to the next generation (read indefinitely) on the following issues:
1. The claim to Taiwan
2. The claim to the disputed islands in the Pacific & the South China Seas
Wise man indeed. RPK, you are right on the button!

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written by M, August 26, 2012 00:25:19
I have to agree with RPK, t makes sense. Now on nothing will be said, we shall leave this issue to the Muslims.

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written by santi vardhana caitanya, August 26, 2012 00:21:48
Dear RPK,
if you are actually suffering from cold, I suggest you take “Indian Gooseberry” aka “Amalaki or “Amla”. It has 3000 mg of Vitamin C per fruit, making it the most powerful fruit in the world.

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written by Romeo2, August 26, 2012 00:14:00
Every new child comes with the message that God is not discouraged by man – Rabindranatha Tagore. How true! And we are still fighting over religions since civilization.

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written by poyo moyo, August 26, 2012 00:05:10
I am wondering why this minister jamil khir supposed to be incharge of national islamic affair is keeping quiet on this noisy issue. Is he not interested in his job and makan gaji buta or Is he busy doing private business or doing his ‘puasa 6’

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written by Dr Syed Alwi, August 25, 2012 23:55:34
Dear RPK,

This time you are very wrong ! This time RPK – you salah ! Are you telling me that the Non-Muslims have no say in the future of Malaysia that they cannot comment on Hudud ? RPK – please man – to make Hudud work, PAS will be forced to change the social climate of Malaysia into something like Saudi Arabia. Hudud only works when you have such a social climate.

And now you are telling me that the Non-Muslims of Malaysia cannot comment on this ?

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written by farcry, August 25, 2012 23:36:04
I have been wondering IF PR took over Putrajaya, will Malays and Chinese become even more divided? It will be a real battle between PAS and DAP at that time.

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written by Lord Jim, August 25, 2012 21:58:52
“Paki” is a racial slur in Britain so is even “Chicken Curry” for the Indians.

“Chinaman” is also a racial slur – but that does not stop our deculturalised, Sambo-ised monkeys from accepting it and happily using it even on themselves.

Our bananas among the Chinese would use “Chinaman” on other Chinese as if he is himself a white man! Somehow some Chinese are “Chinamen” while others are not! Somehow our Chinese monkeys seem to feel they are different and more “superior” to other Chinese. Given that the majority of Malaysian Chinese are from coolie and peasant stock, the need to feel “superior” shows more inferiority than anything. Seeing themselves as inferior, many Chinese like to pick on Malays to make themselves feel better. Invention of slurs like “metallic black” from even our supposed progressive democrats is not surprising.

Only very recently it is claimed that the Brits originally came from Turkey, the country. If anything, St George of the Brits was from there.

I have yet to see someone write and lay out good reasons why we should have hudud. But, please, you monkeys who rely on dogma and unquestioning “faith” had better not apply to do this!

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written by Voice of Reason, August 25, 2012 21:55:04
Maybe this is true for Malayans. But the East will oppose it to the bitter end. Just impose it on West Malaysians if you must but keep the secular East out of this. There’s a reason why West Malaysians of all races refuses to return to the peninsula once they’ve lived in Borneo. Where else in Malaysia can a Malay own or manage a pub?

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written by earthman, August 25, 2012 21:53:36
If one can see then one would notice the hypocrisy that some Malaysians would quote the Malaysian constitution for their own interest instead of for all Malaysians. When challenged they would quote the constitution that Malaya belongs to the Malays and Islam is the official religion. But these Malays would ignore the constitution when challenged on the freedom of faith and worship and equal justice for all .
Did the constitution say that a Malay cannot believe in Jesus and the Bible? Or did the constitution say that non Muslims cannot built their place of worship like the Muslims built their mosque? Or did the constitution say that the government can applied the NEP for the benefits of the Malays alone? You see many policies and laws in Malaysia are against the constitution but the Malays ignore it for their own interest . Is this not hypocrisy?
If the Muslims would unite because they feel threatened and ignore the facts, truth, injustices and hypocrisy before them , no one can stop them but they will have to answer to God Almighty Who gives this land for all to live and work together.
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written by googoodools, August 25, 2012 21:53:24
If Hudud doesn’t apply to non muslim/non malays, than yes i agree that they should not get involved in the Hudud debate. However, this is completely different from the example you quoted regarding chineses education. The chinese education issues merely affect chinese only but Hudud would probably have impact on all malaysian, not just muslims/malays.

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written by Saint, August 25, 2012 21:24:34
RPK is right, let the Muslims decide what they want first, and as history has told us, we as humans as such will not agree to anything that easily and Muslims are no exception.

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written by cty, August 25, 2012 21:10:25
I believe too that the hudud question be settled by Muslims just as long as non-Muslims are left out of its implementation. This is easily said then done when there are disagreements, altercations, murders etc that involve both parties. Which law should be followed? Hudud or Man’s Law. When non-Muslims do not make their objections now, hudud will definately be applied to them when implemented despite promises made otherwise. To digress, each time W Msians argue about hudud, some how or rather they forget about E Msians as if they do not matter quantitatively, is this not seer colonistic arrogance?

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written by EU, August 25, 2012 21:07:25
If the Malays see that hudud is under attack, then, all the malays will vote PAS including the UMNO supporters. Maybe this is a good thing.

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written by jcsh_04, August 25, 2012 20:50:55
Dear Temenggong,

I agree with your ‘prognosis’ regarding this damn christia* freak, they never learn from history. I can smell they are now try to be ‘Hollier than thou’

Hey freaks remember Spanish Inquisition?

Worshipping invisible god and worshipping idol can be considered as INSANE

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written by temenggong, August 25, 2012 20:32:25
The Chinese under DAP have made a serious strategic mistake in thinking they can ride to Putrajaya on their own. Hijacked by christian religious bigots, for the last 4 years they have demonised everyone who criticised their shortcomings, and refused to make course corrections, inspite of several early warnings patiently for 4 years. Now is our turn. Two can play this game.

We cannot send Pakatan to Putrajaya in its current setup. There has to be a leadership and policy change in Pakatan first. This is final. Hence the demonisation of islam and hudud will continue, and increase, until Malays see the light. A list of vocal christian evangelist DAP MPs and Aduns outside Penang will be published to assist Malay voters in GE 13. But admittedly, we expect all Chinese majority seats to increase their majorities due to increased chinese swing and new voters.

Did you see how the stupid melayu Mansur Othman grovelled and collapsed in political servility? I enjoyed it.

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written by Veritas Aequitas, August 25, 2012 20:32:03
Eventually the finer truths of reality will prevail. The religionists had already conceded many of the lies and falsehoods that they had held dearly, e.g. acknowledging the truth that the Sun do not revolves around Earth, and others.

Emmanuel Kant had argued that God, as a being than which no greater can be conceived, is a transcendental illusion that cannot be proven empirically, but it is a notion that is necessary, i.e. as a ‘white lie’ for various psychological reasons and soothe an existential crisis manifesting from the maturing mental states of the majority.

Certain people may have some vested interests against hudud, but imo, the majority who voice against hudud are doing so as concerned individuals of humanity to ensure humanity’s progress is not put into reverse gears. It is difficult for any rational person to accept ‘backward’ laws on a wholesale basis that is supposedly commanded from something based on a transcendental illusion and faith.

If there is anything good from hudud or any other sources, they should be dealt on a piecemeal basis and be deliberated for adoption as a secular law on a constitutional parliamentary basis. In this case, if it is later found not to be effective due to changing reality and circumstance, it can be amended, changed, or make void via parliament. In the case of religious based laws, once it is implemented, being immutable and that God cannot not make mistakes, it not likely to be changed.

For the sake of the progress of humanity, religion and politics should not be mixed at all.

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written by albert zacharias, August 25, 2012 20:25:37
It all depends who, how, when and where it is spoken. In the bar everything goes. In the court every word counts and at home it does not matter. If nothing to say to another keep quiet lah. Politicians like soiled leg likes to put his big leg everywhere and get everybody soiled.

Don’t be like that lah.

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written by jcsh_04, August 25, 2012 20:24:03
Mein Fuhrer,

You are right sir! will follow your advice…thanks for the enlightement.

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written by nanakassim, August 25, 2012 19:58:11
I’m saying this with my mouth closed:
A wise man opens his mouth because he has something to say; a fool opens his mouth because he has to say something

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written by Tompodus, August 25, 2012 19:57:48
Dear Tuanku RPK,

I may correct on this one! “Those born outside Malaya before 31st August 1957 and those born in the country after 31st August 1957 would be Malaysians.”

The correction is, “Those born inside of Malaya before 31st August 1957 and those born in the countries (Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak) after 16 September 1963 would be Malaysians.”

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written by eternal flame, August 25, 2012 19:54:14
Why dont we talk about the welfare and well being of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban,Kadazan & Orang Asli
why are we still a developing country, Houses, Cars & prices of goods & services so expensive these days. Why are our salary so low yet we want to be a developed country come 2020, Our security guards salary is around rm 1000 per month can we put enough foods on the table compare to UK say 1000 pounds per month, Tell that to all the poor people in Malaysia, why cant we do something for them can Hudud solve all the problem for the poor people in Malaysia

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written by An Observer, August 25, 2012 19:27:27
Thank you RPK for articulating this issue in a sensible way. I will have no more say in this Hudud issue. Whatever that can be said has been said, ad nauseum. Hopefully when everyone’s tired and done talking, we can move on.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

As mentioned before, hudud is not something a majority of Malays want, just like the right to apostasy is something a minority of Malays do want. Hudud can be applied on a person to person basis but why anyone wants to allow the Syariah Court to amputate their limbs via consent to hudud will be just as unbelievable. There is no need to suspend Hudud but Hudud can be only applied on a case by case consensual Muslim basis, hudud however cannot be roundly applied on non-consenting Muslims in Malaysia as per the UN Human Rights Charter. Perhaps PAS is a part if the hegelian dialectic and cynical political control system the 99% just don’t need. There are fines and common sense punishment or jail terms in lieu of Hudud’s extremes, and now PAS wants hudud for all consenting or non-consenting Muslims regardless of choice and with RPK egging PAS on? Bad politics and invasive of personal freedoms. How could an ‘educated’ person like RPK keep at this b.s. promotion of hudud? We do not even have :

Trafficking class for men using prostitutes – August 13th, 2012 – 09:26 AM ET By Richard Roth and Patrick Feeeney

CNN – More than 25 men sit in an attorney’s office – each was arrested for prostitution-related offences and each is now trying to avoid jail.

But this is not a defense lawyer’s office. It’s the Brooklyn district attorney’s office and the road away from jail is a lesson in the risks of using prostitutes – Johns School.

Assistant District Attorney Grace Brainard tells them: “The crimes you were arrested for would lead to one penalty and one penalty only and that is jail time. And the next time you are arrested for prostitution, jail time will be the only offer on the table.”

The men were arrested for attempting to pay for sex from undercover policewomen posing as prostitutes on the streets of New York. Men who solicit prostitutes are so-called ‘johns’ and this gathering is known as Johns School.

It’s a program that teaches the dangers and penalties of prostitution and sex trafficking. It’s been going on for the past 10 years under the official name of Project Respect conducted by the Kings County (Brooklyn), NY District Attorney’s office.

Because of their clean record of no previous arrests, the men were given the opportunity to take the three-hour plus course – which cost them more than $300 – and avoid time behind bars. They could have had their day in court but risk of jail time was of great concern.

Rhonnie Jaus, the chief of the Sex Crimes Bureau, said the class attempts to sensitize and educate the men on the dangers of prostitution to both the John and the prostitute.

“You think you’re having sex with an adult, and it turns out it could be something quite different,” Jaus said, “It could be a trafficked child brought from China, brought from South America, so there are many different ramifications of this crime.”

Brainard emphasized that most girls enter prostitution between the ages of 11 and 14. “They were children when they entered this life,” she said.

The men also listened to a lecture from Rosetta Menifee, a former prostitute who had contracted HIV.

“Obviously the goal is not for them (the johns) to do it again,” Menifee said, “but the reality is a lot of them will, so the goal is really to talk about what the risks are so that the have the knowledge of it from different perspectives, and hopefully they’ll make better choices.”

Different speakers pointed out the different risks inherent with solicitation.

Grace Pabarue, a public health educator at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, highlighted sexually transmitted diseases in a photo slideshow.

Former NYPD Lieutenant Jeff Anderson said a prostitute could be a potential threat to a John. “Some of them are emotionally disturbed, some of them abuse drugs,” Anderson said. “Many prostitutes can defend themselves, many prostitutes have defended themselves.”

One of the johns who wanted only to be identified as ‘Skeeter,’ said the course showed him different perspectives about the women forced to work in prostitution.

“Some of them have drug habits, maybe some of them work for pimps,” Skeeter said. “I wouldn’t feel good knowing that I’m paying that money, and it’s going to further keep someone so they’re enslaved.”

Prosecutor Jaus said that the sessions also help develop sex trafficking cases and can encourage johns to help prostitutes escape their situation.

“We’ve had a few cases in which the John actually brought the prostitute, who told him about the fact that she was being trafficked, to the police station,” Jaus said.

“He didn’t go in with the young woman, but he dropped her off because she was crying and told him, “look, I’ve been trafficked.””

Brainard told the johns they should report any case of sex trafficking they witness, even if they were soliciting at the time.

“Taking that step to get law enforcement involved does not mean you have to report it yourself,” Brainard said. “In fact, you don’t even have to give your name.”

At the end of the session the johns are given an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal. If they avoid arrest over the following six months, the arrest is wiped off their record.

Despite Menifee’s fear that many will continue using prostitutes, Jaus said the course, which started in 2002, has seen a success rate of more than 90 percent. “Over the past 10 years, we’ve had over 3,000 attendees of the John School,” Jaus said.

“So we’ve only had 26 people rearrested in Brooklyn for patronizing, who have gone through the John school.”

None of the other boroughs of New York offer such an alternative.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

“Obviously the goal is not for them (the johns) to do it again,” . . .

Excuse me, what Johns do with consenting adults of either or indeterminate gender is their own business, and the sex workers who make their own choices as well. This article entirely ignores the issue of consensual prostitutes and nominally illegalizes (quasi moralist-fundo style) the act of buying or selling sexual companionship. Could someone from PONY or SWOP or a relevant advocacy group please communicate with CNN on this unwanted borderline demogoguery? Other than that, the article is well and good, especially the part where Johns should report trafficked women and even drop such victims off at the police station.

But CNN forgets the consensual and Red Light District workers who are there by choice, or even preference and even makes sex workers into potential psychos with all that ‘defending themselves‘ or ‘disturbed‘ or ‘potential threat‘ language. A John is going to have abit of relaxation then be off on their way, just like from caveman times, nothing new here, nothing to make laws around or be woo-woo about. Let feminazi, alpha john, LGBT or good family have their spaces, there will however by no spaces for ‘proselytize into oblivion’ fundo-idealogical types trying to destroy spaces for any specific group.

ARTICLE 2

Prostitution should be legalized in Malaysia – Friday, August 6, 2010

The Star of August 6, 2010 highlighted on its front page the case of a van driver in Petaling Jaya accused of raping two minors. Why didn’t he satisfy his lust in a cheap brothel in Kuala Lumpur’s red-light districts such as Lorong Haji Taib or Brickfields? Simply because there are no more cheap brothels left for him to patronize! (A van driver can’t afford a RM200 full-service package in a high-class spa, can he?). Depending on which side of the fence you are on, it’s either thanks or no thanks to the efforts of our police. However, it has been postulated that the non-availability of sex workers to men who can’t control their desires is a contributing factor to rape. (I prefer to refer to prostitutes as sex-workers because they perform a service).

According to a website (http://prostitution.procon.org), prostitution is legal in 50 countries, enjoys limited legality in 10 countries, and is illegal in 40 other countries. Every men worth his testosterone knows the nearest sex haven is across the Causeway in Singapore’s Geylang district. If a country that bans chewing gum can permit prostitution and legal brothel ownership, something must be good to it. Of course, I’m referring to voluntary prostitution by adults, not forced prostitution or trafficked women. Just compare the number of sex crimes in Singapore as a percentage of its population to the same statistic for Malaysia.

In fact, empirical evidence has established the correlation between the lack of brothels and high number of rape cases in the following studies:

–Kirby R. Cundiff, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Finance at Northeastern State University in his working paper entitled “Prostitution and Sex Crimes” submitted to Independent Institute on Apr. 8, 2004, wrote: “It is estimated that if prostitution were legalized in the United States, the rape rate would decrease by roughly 25% for a decrease of approximately 25,000 rapes per year…. The analysis seems to support the hypothesis that the rape rate could be lowered if prostitution was more readily available. This would be accomplished in most countries by its legalization.”

–R.N. Barber’s article entitled “Prostitution and Increasing Number of Convictions for Rape in Queensland” (Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology. 1969 (vol. 2 issue 3) stated: “A study conducted in Queensland… show[ed] a 149% increase in the rate of rape when legal brothels were closed in 1959, while other offenses against the person by males increased only 49%.”

So, my point is that sex workers perform a role in society by allowing men and women to relieve themselves of sexual tension and desire. Without this biological urge, given by God, humans would have become extinct long ago. Therefore, prostitution should be legalized in Malaysia and strictly regulated, of course.

If Turkey, which has a 99% Muslim population, can legalize prostitution, why not our country? Also, according to the Coalition Against Traficking in Women, Indonesia, another Muslim-majority country, has “localised bordello complexes, or ‘localisasi’ managed under local government regulations”. (http://www.catwinternational.org)

Sex website http://longpenisworld.com stated: “Though prostitution is technically illegal in Indonesia, the government continues to run and operate the Kramat Tunggak, a red-light district in North Jakarta. The largest in the world, the district spans 28 acres, with more than 220 brothels populated by between 1,000 to 2,000 girls.”

Another point is that so much attention is focused on female prostitution that male sex-workers are often overlooked in terms of arrests. For instance, why are female sex-workers always targetted in anti-vice raids? Have we ever read news of gigolos being caught by our anti-vice police? Yes, but seldom. (Even so, our mainstream newspapers don’t bother to show pictures of the arrested male sex-workers but pictures of female sex workers are often splashed prominently in prime pages.)

The scores of male sex-workers in our gay massage parlours, spas and gyms are often left alone to enjoy their sodomy in bliss, not to mention the straight studs servicing ageing widows, divorcees, old spinsters and bored housewives with impotent husbands. (A Google search will hook up several Kuala Lumpur-based agencies offering male escorts).

Industry sources have told me stories of policemen posing as customers to visit brothels and nabbing female sex-workers. If the law is to be imposed across genders, shouldn’t policemen also pose as customers in gay massage parlours to nab male sex-workers? Maybe catching male prostitutes is not fun enough for our he-man cops?

Also, why aren’t our policewomen pretending to be customers of masseurs-cum-gigolos and arresting them when they offer sex?

Gender equality should also extend to the way sex-workers are handled by the police.

Definitely an alpha minded type writer, ladies look no further for an example of alpha minded MALE, (guys – here’s that role model missing from society or your henpecked home conditions), though does not look particularly alpha, (well maybe was much bigger/muscular/hairier when younger . . . ) all Ewe needs is to have a music production business on the side and to put on that shiny suit, give Dr. Detroit a run for the money . . . Ah the era of wine, women and song for non-Muslims in Malaysia can begin if alpha males finally legislate legalized RLDs or adult (film) industry . . . run for candidacy in the informal RLD districts in Malaysia, the syndicates would be glad to become legal and have access to legal workers with the adult patrons having access to legal workers as well as the sex workers possibly being able to demand a pension plan as well, instead of running around playing catch with the cops.

Ewe Paik Leong is a Kuala Lumpur-based writer and editor. He has held editorial positions in publications ranging in subjects from lifestyle, travel, business, building, healthcare and medical to motoring. Ewe is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association, Diamond Bar, CA, USA. All articles are original and cannot be reproduced without his written permission.

ARTICLE 3

Lady Gaga rushed by fan, fires back at PETA over furs: Footage released – August 17, 2012 – by : Bryan Bard

Lady Gaga comes to Kim’s defense, tells PETA and the world she thinks she’s fabulous.

Lady Gaga is currently touring Romania, and the fur is flying. Yesterday the “Born this Way” diva issued a pointed response to the commotion over her suspected fur wearing. PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has lashed out at Gaga for appearing in public sporting what appear to be real animal furs. And amid all of this controversy came an aggressive fan who got an up close view of the business end of Lady Gaga’s body guard.

Celebrity-Gossip.net is reporting that upon arriving at her hotel in Bucharest yesterday and greeting fans, one overzealous photographer attempted to shoot up Gaga’s skirt. This was met with a swift response from her security team who seized the camera. Later as Lady Gaga was exiting, another commotion erupted when what appears to be an overanxious fan rushed the “Bad Romance” singer for an autograph and was met with a quick smack down by a bodyguard. Watch the video here as posted by Eonline to see it as it happened.
Lady Gaga bodyguard slaps down fan

Earlier in the week, PETA attacked Mother Monster and called her a “turncoat” for appearing in public with various furs, and demanded to know whether any were real. Typical of our Gaga, she released a statement defending her right to do and wear what she wants, as reported by The Hollywood Gossip. PETA claims Gaga has said in the past that she hates fur and doesn’t wear it. It’s unclear whether she’s referring to real fur or just fur in general. In either case, the 26 year-old artist is not backing down to pressure from the organization nor some of her angered fans.

Lady Gaga’s statement in part says, “I want you to know that I care deeply about your feelings and views, and I will always support your philosophies about life”. She continues, “I do not however support violent, abusive, and childish campaigns for ANY CAUSE. Particularly one that I respect. ‘Animal Rights’….I respect your views, please respect mine”. In between Gaga laments her other animal kingdom fashion-inspired outfits, never explicitly acknowledging whether any of it is authentic or not.

Gaga does make one particularly interesting direct reference to her infamous awards show meat dress. And it does seem odd to hold someone accountable for sporting an animal pelt when they’ve appeared in public wearing animal flesh. It would be an understatement to say that Gaga sees the artistic value in everything. Have you ever gotten past the outrageous costumes and listened to her songs? “You see a carcass, I see a museum piece de resistance”, she wrote.

Lady Gaga closed out her well thought out diatribe by addressing the recent flour bombing of Kim Kardashian by supposed PETA members. “And to campaigners, Save your flour to make bread for the children who are hungry. And Kim Kardashian is fabulous”, Gaga said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

“I do not however support violent, abusive, and childish campaigns for ANY CAUSE.” said Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotti aka Lady Gaga.

Oh yeah? USA and the freedom of humanity by attempting to remove bad politicians or the TSA, if considered childish (moi prefers childlike in descripts of campaigns, and selfishness especially when one has so much, is most cynically adult) or abusive to campaign for, would only make this 1%ter part of the problem. The only way Evil can win is if Good does not act. So by not acting, guess what Evil any 1% entertainer is allowing to happen . . . by ignoring the starving, those needing policy change, stuck in prisons for non-crimes (that a governor could pardon or influence placement of pro-active judges who could overturn judgments by), needing younger politicians in power, when one has as much (though likely waning after this post) popularity and money as this that is put to no good end, one has already done violence by letting the abuse to the 99%ters occur without helping the 99% even as the 99% had bought tickets and albums etc.. to enable action by 1% plutocrat actors and musos. Is this childish?

Or will 1% plutocrat entertainers continue neglecting the fact that the 99% made them and now are suffering, need this 1% plutocrat to act for them now? Every ticket or album bought comes with a price and the spiritual debt is now upon those who due to the collective resources of so many can act but do not . . . despots like people who concur all the time, by saying this and thinking this way, 1% plutocrat entertainers will be now differentiate those who are followers or potential friends . . . shall the world divest from those who fail to return what was given rather than earned? A record or ticket does not sell itself and is not a one off thing either.

Field an ENTIRE ‘Freedom Party’ who will legalise pot and free all prisoners of pot related charges if TSA seems too much for ‘Gaga’ Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotti, set a precedent for action or set a precedent for plutocratic entertainer divestment . . . THAT would be ‘monster-worthy’. A 3rd Force political coalition instead of the hegelian dialectic. A monster would take on the creeps and retards running the government because monsters also hunger for power . . . prancing around naked with lights and props is NOT so monstrous as making a run for Governorship to implement REAL laws, abolish REAL laws or pardon non-crimes . . . oh and that ‘fan‘ who was ‘bashed’ by the guard . . . unless staged on purpose to create ‘drama’, this looks like an undue force amounting to Aggravated Assault case involving security at least, would ‘fan’ like to consult a lawyer if being hit in that manner was legal? How about something sexier where the fur wearing people get their furry clothes ripped off by fundos among PETA?

A group of former U.S. intelligence and Special Forces operatives is set to launch a media campaign, including TV ads, that scolds President Barack Obama for taking credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and argues that high-level leaks are endangering American lives.

Leaders of the group, the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc, say it is nonpartisan and unconnected to any political party or presidential campaign. It is registered as a so-called social welfare group, which means its primary purpose is to further the common good and its political activities should be secondary.

In the past, military exploits have been turned against presidential candidates by outside groups, most famously the Swift Boat ads in 2004 that questioned Democratic nominee John Kerry’s Vietnam War service.

The OPSEC group says it is not political and aims to save American lives. Its first public salvo is a 22-minute film that includes criticism of Obama and his administration. The film, to be released on Wednesday, was seen in advance by Reuters.

“Mr. President, you did not kill Osama bin Laden, America did. The work that the American military has done killed Osama bin Laden. You did not,” Ben Smith, identified as a Navy SEAL, says in the film.

“As a citizen, it is my civic duty to tell the president to stop leaking information to the enemy,” Smith continues. “It will get Americans killed.”

An Obama campaign official said: “No one in this group is in a position to speak with any authority on these issues and on what impact these leaks might have, and it’s clear they’ve resorted to making things up for purely political reasons.”

Obama has highlighted his foreign policy record on the campaign trail, emphasizing how he presided over the killing of bin Laden, as well as how he ended the war in Iraq and set a timeline for winding down the war in Afghanistan.

However, Obama has come under sharp attack from Republican lawmakers who have accused his administration of being behind high-level leaks of classified information.

They have pointed to media reports about clandestine drone attacks, informants planted in al Qaeda affiliates and alleged cyber-warfare against Iran that Republicans say were calculated to promote Obama’s image as a strong leader in an election year.

The White House has denied leaking classified information.

The president of Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc, Scott Taylor, is a former Navy SEAL who in 2010 ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for a congressional seat in Virginia.

Calling itself “OPSEC” for short – which in spy jargon means “operational security” – the anti-leak group incorporated last June in Delaware, a state that has the most secretive corporate registration rules in the U.S.

It also set itself up as a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)4 of the U.S. Tax Code, allowing it to keep donors’ identities secret. Spokesmen for the group declined to discuss its sources of financing.

Several group representatives say their main motivation for setting up OPSEC was dismay at recent detailed media leaks about sensitive operations.

In an interview, Taylor denied OPSEC had any political slant. He described the group as a “watchdog organization” but added that the current administration “has certainly leaked more than others.”

OPSEC spokesmen said the group has about $1 million at its disposal and hopes to raise more after the release of its mini-documentary, entitled “Dishonorable Disclosures,” which aims, in spy-movie style, to document a recent spate of leaks regarding sensitive intelligence and military operations.

Following the film’s release, OPSEC’s spokesmen said, the group expects to produce TV spots on the anti-leak theme that will air in a number of states, including Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina and Nevada – key battleground states.

Fred Rustmann, a former undercover case officer for the CIA who is a spokesman for the group, insisted its focus on leaks was “not a partisan concern.” But he said the current administration had been leaking secrets “to help this guy get re-elected, at the expense of peoples’ lives…. We want to see that they don’t do this again.”

Chad Kolton, a former spokesman for the office of Director of National Intelligence during the George W. Bush administration who now represents OPSEC, also said the group’s message and make-up are nonpolitical.

“You’ll see throughout the film that concern about protecting the lives of intelligence and Special Forces officers takes precedence over partisanship,” he said.

Responding to criticism about the president taking credit for the bin Laden raid, an Obama campaign official pointed to an interview with CNN last month in which Admiral Bill McRaven, commander of the raid, said: “At the end of the day, make no mistake about it, it was the president of the United States that shouldered the burden for this operation, that made the hard decisions, that was instrumental in the planning process, because I pitched every plan to him.”

“I think Admiral McRaven knows more about the President’s role in the bin Laden operation than this group,” the campaign official said.

Thats is why term limits are needed. So that the office cannot be used to protect this sort of credit claiming. Would a black or latino female president or Ameri-Red-Indian male be suitable for USA in the next election? Would give a strong message to the militant Islamists that USA is not all WASP and that the citizens are not all colonial occupiers but victims of the same.

Joe Publics of the above 3 types of President selections with enough resources to at least launch internet campaigns, you ready to run for President? Romney is worth 250 million, Maria Carey is worth 225 million, how about running for Governor at least? Oprah is worth 2.7 billion 10 times that of Romney, Madonna is worth 500 million 2 times that if Romney, how about running for Governor at least if not President divas? Beyonce’s networth as of February 2010 is $461 million & Jay Z’s net worth as of January 2010 is $785million, Snoop Lion’s worth 110 million still enough to at least take a Congressman’s or Mayor’s seat if wealth is to be a yardstick of what one can do. On the wealth distribution, if at very least not unused LAND distribution for the homeless and jobless at least? If Arnold Schwarzeneggar (terminated California policy for 9 years, not so good), could take up politics, why is the latino or black entertainer so shy? USA needs a new governance paradigm or USA is going down . . . Hollywood included . . .

If these people are so proud of ethnicity or gender equality have the media infrastructure, want to prove themselves so much, then run for the above posts and GTFO of Congress after 2 terms! USA’s 99?% need these policies that the mainstream term limitless do not want to implement! All that is needed to evil to triumph is for good to do nothing . . .

The DeKalb County medical examiner says a woman found dead in her home was killed by at least one of her five dogs.

Twenty-three-year-old Rebecca Carey spent her life rescuing animals, taking several into her home to keep them from ending up at animal control.

Carey’s best friend, Jackie Cira, went to Carey’s home when she did not show up for work on Sunday.

“There was a lot of blood,” Cira said. “And when first got there, it looked like she had fallen and hit her head.”

The DeKalb County medical examiner ruled Carey’s death was the result of dog bites.

Animal control took custody of the five dogs in the home – two pit bulls, two presas and a boxer mix.

Any dog that has bitten a person goes into a special isolation lockup at animal control.

Cira said she knows Carey’s dogs, and actually owned one of them, a therapy dog, at one time.

“Any dog she came into contact with, she brought out the best in,” Cira said.

Cira said she wanted the dogs she knew to be gentle to be spared punishment.

“I don’t know who did what, but I can say with certainty who did not,” Cira said.

Animal control’s interim director Tim Medlin told Channel 2’s Jeff Dore that the county can’t risk putting a killer dog with a family, and they have all been put down.

“We didn’t know which dog did which. I can’t be wrong. Not just myself, no one can be wrong in putting out a dog that possibly had to do with these type of injuries. I will not put another person at that kind of risk,” Medlin said.

Carey’s family declined to speak with Dore, but they issued the following statement:

“Rebecca Carey of Decatur was 23 years old and an avid animal lover. Since the second grade when she read the book Throw Away Pets she vowed to be a voice for all animals. She attended Georgia Perimeter College and worked at a veterinary clinic. Upon placing her first abandoned animal in a permanent loving home in 2003, she volunteered countless hours with rescue networks and animal shelters. There she did what she loved the most: rescuing animals from untenable situations to find them safe, loving homes.”

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Neurotech warning? For we know our pets well and fine excepting neurotech incursions . . . Don’t be afraid plutocrat entertainers, back up those attitudes with real action not entertainment industry slickness. Is Hollywood ‘in’ with the neurotech use? Guess who Carey is warning if this is even possible. Otherwise disregard this post. That would also confirm that some Hollywood types are just false personaes under the spotlight, but even worse than politicians IRL away from the spotlight. Perhaps this is why some of them are so wealthy and dismissive or neglectful of the 99% who buy their records/products etc. and make them so rich. As mentioned before – wealth distribution is needed (20 million limits?) not 1% domination EVEN by entertainer plutocrats. Making life entertaining is no excuse for sequestration of collective wealth of the nation when people starve or are homeless.

Any able to confirm the above deserve to be the intelligence community or watchdogs of the 99% . . . a really cool star would be cool with most of what is posted here, the ‘closet psycho’ NWO types entertainers for certain would pull something like the above. Don’t say I didn’t warn you AmeriCan’ts, not all ‘Stars’ may be as friendly or entertaining as they seem, and might have access to satellite neurotech if not trying to sequester organic energy exchanges naturally available to others, on the esoteric level there seems to be a spiritual war all around . . .

Lets hope some of these plutocrat entertainers actually act or debunk. USA is fighting a war that USA cannot fund, and when there are no monies for police because soldiers are protecting the USA, fully expect even entertainer plutocrats to be considered part of the problem. We only ask for those the 1% entertainer made so wealthy by buying their records or watching their films to give back by taking out the evil term limitless politicians and remembering to GTFO after 2 terms. After gaining the cash from the film goers, Arnold S. JOINED the 1% (just look at the policy written) . . . now will the rest of the 1% entertainers help the 99% who made the plutocrat (1% entertainer/muso funded by the people of the USA, also world) so wealthy?

A woman may be fined $600 for each day she provided free food to children in a poor Philadelphia neighborhood for the past few months.

Angela Prattis, 41, of Chester Township has been distributing free healthy lunches in a neighborhood that has a per capita income of $19,000 a year.

Prattis made no money from the meal distribution, and gave out food provided by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The “lunch lady” ran the charity out of her garage, to which about 60 children came, five days a week.

After the city council was alerted of the free lunches, it ruled that she would have to acquire a variance to give away food next summer – or pay a fine of $600 a day. The council considers Prattis’ deed a zoning violation. Three months of distributing food would instigate a fine of more than $50,000.

“It’s not like I’m selling food,” she objected.

“These kids are hungry. I’m not tearing down the community. I’m keeping the children out of harm’s way,” she said in a Fox News interview.

But a variance to distribute food would also be costly. Administrative fees for a variance would cost up to $1,000.

“You have houses here. The roofs are falling in, and they could be focused on a lot more serious issues than me feeding children,” Prattis said in response to the city council’s ruling.

The woman has three children of her own, takes care of a foster child and runs a neighborhood basketball program .

The township intitally threatened Prattis with fines for this summer’s food distribution, but withdrew them after news organizations began asking questions. Now, the township is allowing the woman to keep distributing food cost-free until August 24 – but next summer will be a lot more costly. Prattis told local news crews that she will continue helping her community.

“Tell me this program isn’t needed,” she said.

[[[ *** RESPONSE *** ]]]

Whats the back story behind this? Neurosuppressive drugs distributed by the Church into the food to control children? With enforcement taking the fall to keep the Church looking good?

ARTICLE 7

How America Can Slow Israel’s March to War – by DENNIS B. ROSS – Published: August 17, 2012 Washington

For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT.

OBAMA administration officials have made it clear that they believe there is still time and space for diplomatic efforts to succeed in stopping Iran from achieving a nuclear weapons capability. But Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, has said it is time to declare that “diplomacy has failed.”

While Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has not yet declared the failure of diplomacy, he has spoken about its inability to alter the course of Iran’s nuclear program. In addition, he has told his cabinet that the nuclear threat from Iran dwarfs all the other threats Israel faces and pointedly added, “Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons.”

The words of Israeli leaders are signaling not just increasing impatience with the pace of diplomacy but also Israel’s growing readiness to act militarily on its own against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Although the United States and Israel share the same objective of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capability, the two differ on the point at which it may become necessary to act militarily to forestall the Iranian nuclear advance. I say “forestall” because neither America nor Israel can fully destroy the Iranian capability to build a nuclear weapon. Each country could set Iran back militarily, but neither could destroy Iran’s skill or technical and engineering capacity to develop nuclear weapons. Since 2007, when Iran mastered the full nuclear fuel cycle and the means to enrich uranium on its own, it has been too late for that.

Their differences on the possible timing of military action are a function of both capabilities and perspective. The United States has significantly greater military might than Israel and therefore feels that it can wait substantially longer than Israel before resorting to force.

Israel is less patient. As Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said, Iran is rapidly approaching the moment when the depth, breadth and hardening of its multiple nuclear facilities would produce a “zone of immunity” in which an Israeli military strike would lose its effectiveness. Mr. Barak believes that Israel must act before that moment.

But the issue for the United States is not only about military capacity. It is also about having a strategy for the aftermath of any strike on Iran. Because force could not destroy Iran’s nuclear capability, military action must be seen as a means and not an end. And it must be employed in a way that would contribute to the objective of setting back the Iranian nuclear program so that Iran is both less able and less willing to reconstitute it. At a minimum, that would require keeping Iran isolated and under severe economic sanctions after its nuclear facilities had been attacked.

Israel surely recognizes the importance of having a post-strike strategy that could succeed in keeping Iran isolated. But, perhaps because Israeli leaders find it difficult to surrender the military option while still facing what they perceive as an existential threat, they tend to believe that Tehran’s behavior will produce a unified international position against Iran, even after a military strike.

In the words of one senior Israeli official: “The sanctions regime may be hurt for a time, but afterward it will recover, as will the diplomatic pressure on Iran, as will the intelligence battle against Iran. This is because the basic interests of the international community regarding Iran will not change.”

The perspective of the Obama administration is different. From its standpoint, the isolation of Iran did not just happen on its own. It took considerable effort to persuade and mobilize the international community to impose crippling sanctions.

For the United States, this context matters. America thinks in terms of shaping